2013 Commercial Real Estate

Transcription

2013 Commercial Real Estate
APRIL 2014
The Daily News Publishing Company
Pahlow Wins Commercial Broker of the Year
Scott pahlow of Newmark Grubb Memphis honored by
maar commercial council with top award. PAGE 4
2013 Commercial Real Estate
Pinnacle Awards
SPECIAL
Section
standing
tall
City’s commercial real estate brokers honored for excellence
(Daily News/Andrew J. Breig)
“The Pinnacle Awards provides the opportunity for the commercial real estate community to come together, network and celebrate the achievements
of our peers.” – Tanis Hackmeyer, 2014 president, MAAR Commercial Council
Loeb Lauded for
McComas Enters
Council’s Hall of Fame Overton Square Efforts
David McComas this
year’s inductee. PAGE 6
Square wins Community
impact award. PAGE 7
Overton Square
2
Pinnacle Awards
april 2014
Commercial Real Estate
Commercial Real Estate
april 2014
Pinnacle Awards
3
Editor’s Note:
Pinnacle Awards Honor Individuals, Industry
O
If your small to midsize
company is seeking retail,
industrial or office space, put
award-winning broker Roger
McLemore on your team.
In 2013, he helped dozens of
small business owners find
Roger McLemore,
Pinnacle Awards
Producers Club
the right spaces to start or
grow their businesses and he’s
ready to help you.
Multi-Family & Commercial Real Estate
www.MRGMemphis.com/commercial | 901.683.2220
We would like to thank the Memphis Area Association of Realtors
for recognizing the hard work behind our city’s
commercial real estate development projects.
Our team is honored that Overton Square received the
Community Impact Award!
• Local Gastropub • Malco Studio on the Square • Memphis Pizza Cafe • Robata Ramen &
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Babalu Tacos & Tapas • Bari Ristorante • Bar Louie • Bayou Bar & Grill • Belly Acres • Bikram
Yoga Memphis • Boscos • Breakaway Running • Delta Groove Yoga • Golden India • Lafayette’s • Le Chardonnay • Lenny’s Sub Shop
He’s at the
Top of His Game
Yakitori Bar • Sweet Noshings • The Attic • Schweinehaus • The Square Olive • YoLo Frozen Yogurt • and more to come in 2014!
nce again, The Daily News/Memphis News is honored to partner with the Memphis Area Association of Realtors
Commercial Council to take a moment to celebrate the hard work, determination and achievements of local commercial real estate professionals.
The publication you hold in your hands spotlights the top commercial real estate professionals in the Memphis area who are being recognized at the 13th annual Pinnacle Awards, a program that has grown into one of the
most prestigious events honoring local CRE brokers.
Being honored again this year is the Pinnacle Producers Club, which recorded nearly $2 billion in real estate transactions in 2013. The Pinnacle Producers Club includes brokers who met or exceeded a volume of $2 million dollars in
commercial real estate transactions.
This year the MAAR Commercial Council will honor the Top 25 producers as well as the top producers in each
category – professionals who epitomize the dedication and hard work that is especially necessary to be successful in an
James Overstreet
economy that is slowly but steadily improving.
Associate Publisher &
And the Commercial Council has added two new honors this year: the top producer of a non-national, MemExecutive Editor
phis-based firm; and the Grit-n-Grind Broker of the Year, the broker who has closed the most transactions regardThe Daily News Publishing Co.
less of volume.
Here at The Daily News/Memphis News we are proud to be the event’s media partner for another year. We appreciate the importance of commercial real estate in the local business community as it has been a cornerstone for economic growth since the
city was founded.
While Memphis is renowned for its location and infrastructure, economic progress requires the tireless efforts of professionals like the ones featured in this special publication.
You’ll see familiar names and faces from the city’s top real estate companies – CB Richard Ellis Memphis, Colliers International, Cushman &
Wakefield, Highwoods Properties, Jones Lang LaSalle, Loeb Realty Group, NAI Saig Co. and more.
While these companies often go head to head in the highly competitive arena of commercial real estate, one of the hallmarks of the local CRE
industry has always been its aura of community.
It’s that sense of camaraderie that prompted the MAAR Commercial Council to launch the Pinnacle Awards in 2002 as a way to bring together
the CRE community, network with peers and showcase the industry’s top producers while also encouraging membership in MAAR.
And as MAAR Commercial Council president Tanis Hackmeyer points out on the following page, this event is not only an opportunity to honor
individual achievements but “to share and celebrate with those we respect, and to be thankful for the relationships we have formed.”
Finally, the MAAR Commercial Council and its members should be applauded for giving back to the community through its annual MAAR Commercial Council charity golf tournament that benefits the Make-A-Wish Foundation of the Mid-South. As you know, the Make-A-Wish Foundation is
a truly worthy cause that grants wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions. In 2013, the tournament raised enough money to grant
six wishes.
To the MAAR Commercial Council and its members, thank you for your generosity to the community and your advocacy for Memphis. And,
again, congratulations to all of this year’s Pinnacle Award honorees on an impressive 2013, and we wish you the best of luck and good fortune in 2014.
4
Pinnacle Awards
Commercial Real Estate
april 2014
President’s Letter:
Pinnacle Awards: A Celebration of Hard Work
T
he Memphis Area Association of Realtors Commercial Council honors all of its commercial council
members at the 13th annual Pinnacle Awards. The Pinnacle Awards provides the opportunity for the
commercial real estate community to come together, network and celebrate the achievements of our
peers.
The Memphis commercial real estate community is made up of a truly dynamic group of multifaceted, hard-working individuals, and Pinnacle recognizes the fruits of our hard work. Last year, the Pinnacle Producers commercial real estate transactions exceeded a billion dollars ($1.86 billion). This year we
congratulate the Pinnacle Producers Club recipients, who met or exceeded a volume of $2 million dollars in
commercial real estate transactions, and applaud those that made it to the Pinnacle, for which we strive every year. The Top 25 producers will be honored for reaching the Pinnacle as well as the top producer for each
category. Two other merit awards have been added this year: the top producer of a non-national, MemphisTanis Hackmeyer
based firm and the Grit-n- Grind recipient who has closed the most transactions regardless of volume. Ad2014 President
ditionally, we will pay tribute to those in our community for whom we nominated and voted:
MAAR Commercial Council
• Broker of the Year: One who stands out amongst his peers and has excelled in the industry in 2013
• Hall of Fame: One who has been an icon in the business community year after year
• Community Impact Award: Company who has made a significant & positive change in our
community in 2013.
The Commercial Council has evolved to mean much more than just real estate. As the Pinnacle Award recipients will attest, the
Memphis community has been good to us and therefore we give back when we can. Memphis Area Association of Realtors Commercial
Council (MAAR CC) continues to give back through various charitable events, the largest of which is our annual Commercial Council
golf tournament benefiting the Make-A-Wish Foundation. In 2013, MAAR CC raised enough money to grant 6 wishes and the goal each
year continues to grow higher. This year’s event will be held again at Windyke Country Club on May 22. While the tournament is sold
out, there are still sponsorship opportunities available! The hard work of the golf committee and continued support from our sponsors
gives MAAR CC the ability to make additional wishes come true for children who suffer life-threatening medical conditions. This benefit
is proof that we can pull together and can make a positive impact in the community.
Now I would like to take this opportunity to thank Greg deWitt, last year’s Commercial Council president for continuing to exemplify
the Council’s mission with great ease and a fantastic sense of humor. Greg was as focused as his predecessor, John Mercer, on continuing
to make an impact on the Memphis and real estate communities.
In closing, MAAR Commercial Council is a strong and diverse group of commercial real estate professionals, and I am fortunate
and honored to be a part of the leadership team. The Pinnacle Awards is always a special evening for not only the MAAR CC but also
for all involved in any aspect of commercial real estate, and this year is no different. It is more than an awards ceremony; it is an evening to share and celebrate with those we respect, and to be thankful for the relationships we have formed. Thank you for joining
in the celebration.
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Commercial Real Estate
april 2014
Pinnacle Awards
5
Pahlow Turns Early Struggles Into
Successful 25-Year CRE Career
Amos Maki |
[email protected]
Commercial
Broker
of the Year
Scott Pahlow
Position:
Executive Vice President
Company:
Newmark Grubb Memphis
Scott Pahlow
Newmark Grubb Memphis
W
hen Scott Pahlow graduated
commercial real estate broker in honor
from the University of Arkanof a successful year in local real estate.
sas with a business degree,
“It was a really nice surprise they
he wasn’t quite sure what he
recognized me this year and it’s just
wanted to do with the rest
nice to be recognized by your peers,”
of his life.
said Pahlow, executive vice president of
But a family friend working for
Newmark Grub Memphis.
Cushman & Wakefield in Los Angeles
Pahlow said he wouldn’t be where
invited Pahlow to the “City of Angels”
he is today if the many people he’s
and a passion for the business emerged.
worked with over the years had not
“He was nice enough to take me to
given him an opportunity and helped
work with him for three days,” Pahlow
him grow.
said. “He was doing investment sales at
“I have been really fortunate that
the time, selling downI was able to work for
town office towers. My
and with a lot of taleyes got real big. It was
ented people,” Pahlow
very exciting.”
said. “The thing I feel
Pahlow landed at
most fortunate about is
Cushman & Wakethat they had time for
field in Memphis and,
me and they believed
like many beginning
in me.”
commercial real estate
With the vast
professionals, he had to
amount of goods and
tough out the first few
companies in the field,
years.
Pahlow said he recog“I’ve got to tell you
nized early on that he
– Scott Pahlow
I starved for five years,”
would enjoy industrial
Newmark Grubb Memphis
said Pahlow, 49. “At one
real estate.
point I was five years
“It was just interin and still living in a
esting to me,” Pahlow
friend’s house and my
said. “There are so
dad said to me one
many things going on
time, ‘You know, Scott,
in these concrete boxes
there are jobs that pay a salary.’ But I
out here. You’re really involved in the
just knew I wanted to do this. I saw the
world economy. From Memphis, there’s
potential and I just liked it.”
stuff going everywhere.”
Pahlow overcame those lean years
Pahlow said he thoroughly enjoys
and turned his love for the business
tenant representation, gaining the
into a successful 25-year career in comconfidence of clients and helping them
mercial real estate.
solve their real estate needs.
Pahlow’s peers at the Memphis Area
“I really enjoy tenant representaAssociation of Realtors Commercial
tion because I’m really helping people
Council took note and recently elected
get what they want,” Pahlow said. “Inhim as the 2013 Commercial Broker of
stead of persuading people my building
the Year, which is given annually to a
is better than somebody else’s it’s more
of a consultative approach. It really is
rewarding in that respect.”
After leaving Cushman & Wakefield,
Pahlow joined Colliers, Wilkinson and
Snowden before moving to Trammel Crow Co., where Pahlow said he
learned many facets of the commercial
real estate business.
“I went there as a leasing agent and
I really learned a lot over there, the real
nuts and bolts of real estate,” Pahlow
said.
In 2006, Pahlow joined Joe Steffner to launch the local office of the
national real estate firm Grubb & Ellis.
Newmark acquired Grubb & Ellis in
2012, infusing new life into the company and steadily seeking growth.
“I got to get in on the ground floor
on that and that was very exciting,”
Pahlow said. “They’ve come to the
table with a lot of money and a passion to grow the business and that’s
invigorating.”
Pahlow said that after suffering
through several slow years the local
industrial market is finally recovering
from the recession.
The Memphis industrial market
remained in the black in 2013 with
year-end net absorption of 3.2 million
square feet, according to Cushman &
Wakefield/Commercial Advisors. The
overall market vacancy rate dropped
0.4 percentage points from the previous year to 15.1 percent.
“Last year was a pretty good year,”
Pahlow said. “The vacancy rates are
slowly but surely coming down, the
activity level is up, the pipeline is filling
up and those are all good things. You
can feel it. It’s coming back for sure.”
Looking ahead, Pahlow said the
growth of intermodal operations
means the Memphis area will remain
a major player in distribution, logistics and industrial development and
leasing.
“This has been happening over the
last 10 years but it’s a major thing going
forward, all the railroads have made
investments in intermodal and that is
really going to help this market going
forward,” Pahlow said. “We are truly
blessed to have all of these railroads
winding through here.”
CONGRATULATIONS to
Brian Califf and Hank Martin
“I have been really
fortunate that I was able
to work for and with a lot
of talented people.”
2014 Pinnacle Award Winners
In an ever changing real estate market, relationships,
knowledge, and experience are key. NAI Saig Company’s
goal is to be acknowledged as the benchmark of
excellence and quality in the real estate industry. We
congratulate Hank and Brian on another outstanding year.
www.saigcompany.com
901-526-3100
Commercial Real Estate Services, Worldwide
6
Pinnacle Awards
Commercial Real Estate
april 2014
Dynamic CRE Career Yields HOF Induction for McComas
Amos Maki |
[email protected]
D
avid McComas spent
three decades in commercial real estate,
doing everything from
establishing a national
real estate department at FedEx to supporting the revival
of Downtown Memphis.
For his significant and
lasting contributions to the
industry, McComas has been
inducted into the Memphis
Area Association of Realtors
Commercial Council Hall of
Fame.
“I had a pretty nice run,”
said McComas, who is now
enjoying retirement. “I have
been privileged to work with a
number of the finest firms and
folks in the commercial and
corporate real estate community.”
Initially working in site
selection for a national restaurant franchise, McComas’
commercial real estate career
began when Harold Crye and
Dick Leike formed a commercial real estate division in 1983.
Gary Garland launched the
division and Steve Woodyard
and McComas joined the effort
at the outset.
“They made the decision
to establish a commercial division and allowed us to take the
lead in developing it,” McComas said.
After that, McComas joined
RFS Realty before linking up
with Mary Singer to focus on
tenant representation.
In 1991, McComas became
manager of FedEx’s United
States real estate portfolio.
At the outset, that involved
only the corporate real estate
“I have been privileged
to work with a number
of the finest firms and
folks in the commercial
and corporate real estate
community.”
– David McComas
portfolio of 89 properties,
which included the corporate
headquarters, key corporate
facilities in Memphis and 13
contact centers spread across
the country.
At that time FedEx had
a decentralized real estate
system, with local or regional
managers making their own
real estate decisions. By FedEx
not leveraging the entirety of
its expanding real estate holdings, McComas said corporate
real estate costs began to soar.
As McComas and others
observed the cost of the FedEx
real estate portfolio escalating at around 7 percent a year
across the system, a decision
was made to centralize the
entire portfolio. The challenge
was to set up a system to manage some 1,300 office, industrial and retail properties.
It was eventually centralized under one roof, and
managed out of Memphis with
a newly formed U.S. real estate
Commercial
Hall of Fame
Inductee
David McComas
group of 15 real estate agents
and staff.
“Building that department
was a challenge and I am still
very close with that group of
real estate folks,” McComas
said. “We made a lot of great
strides and brought down a lot
of costs. I was happy at FedEx
and I thought I would stay at
FedEx.”
Then McComas’ phone
rang and Henry Turley was on
the other end.
“Henry Turley invited
me Downtown one Saturday
and shared his vision for the
turnaround of Downtown
including Harbor Town and
South Bluffs,” said McComas.
“Downtown had shut down
and just about turned out the
lights, but Henry wasn’t having
it and as a native Memphian I
understood the importance of
turning around Downtown.”
McComas was intrigued
but said he immediately recognized that the effort would
require a massive undertaking
– they would have to reverse
deeply entrenched ideas about
urban living and Downtown
– and that it would be quite
different from anything else he
had previously worked on.
“I knew it would be vastly
different from anything I
had previously been involved
with,” McComas said. “It had
some commercial components, but was largely outside
my realm in commercial real
estate. It was a 180-degree
change for me, a total career
change, but to that I credit
the persuasiveness of Henry
Turley.”
McComas joined Turley
as president of Henry Turley
Realtors and vice president of
real estate for the Henry Turley Co. The two oversaw the
development of Harbor Town
and South Bluffs and Turley’s
Downtown apartment and office properties.
“Those were exciting
times, following Henry’s vision
toward what Downtown has
become today,” McComas said.
“We had a real successful run
and in basically four years did
it all. I basically worked myself
out of a job.”
Having helped turn around
Downtown Memphis, McComas spent one year on corporate real estate accounts for
the Dallas-based commercial
real estate firm Fischer and Co.
and two years with CB Richard
Ellis Memphis, managing the
real estate portfolio of Union
Planters Bank until it was absorbed by Regions Bank.
McComas then joined The
ServiceMaster Co. in 2003 and
managed the corporate real
estate portfolio of Terminix,
which included around 450 facilities across the country, until
he retired Dec. 30, 2013.
As a hometown boy who
grew up around the University
of Memphis, McComas said
he felt blessed to be able to be
involved with the strengthening of two civic institutions –
FedEx and Downtown.
“The opportunity to work
with FedEx was just incredible.
It’s such a well-oiled machine
and to be able to have an
impact on it was a real honor,”
said McComas. “With Downtown, it added so much to the
character of Memphis and
really helped pave the way for
what we see today.”
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193 Jefferson Ave. • Memphis TN 38103 • (901) 523-1561
Top 25
that I’ve worked with for
a long time,” said Aiken,
or Wyatt Aiken,
a member of the Society
chief operating ofof Industrial and Office
ficer and executive
Realtors and past president
vice president of
of the Memphis chapter.
Cushman & Wake“The industrial market has
field/Commercial Advisors
come back more strongly
LLC, the best part of workas a whole. I think both
ing in the commercial real
sectors are in very moderestate industry is serving
ate expansion mode as far
his clients well and estabas space being leased and
Aiken
Cushman & Wakefield/
lishing long-term relationbuildings being bought.”
Commercial Advisors LLC
The East Memphis
ships.
office
market and DeSoto
Now with 31 years
of experience in the industry, Aiken
County industrial markets were the
specializes in working with corporate
most active for Aiken last year, and acclients, helping them with both their
tivity was also encouraging Downtown
office and industrial needs.
and in the Tenn. 385 corridor.
“I handled about the same number
“Helping our firm to grow last year
of office and industrial transactions
was the thing I’m most proud of,” said
Aiken, who is one of the founding
during 2013, and most were with clients
Michael Waddell
Special to The Daily News
F
brokers of Cushman &
Wakefield/Commercial
Advisors. The firm today
handles leasing and
management assignments
totaling more than 23
million square feet of office, retail and industrial
properties.
Aiken began his real
estate career in the 1980s
as a leasing agent and
marketing principal for
Trammell Crow Co.
after graduating with
his master’s degree from
Tulane University School
of Business. He formed
Commercial Advisors
(then called Commercial Tennessee) with
partner Larry Jensen in
Top 25
Wyatt Aiken
Position:
Executive Vice President,
Chief Operating Officer
Company:
Cushman & Wakefield/
Commercial Advisors LLC
1992. They changed the
business’ name in 2002
and then aligned with
Cushman & Wakefield
when they returned to the
market.
Prior to helping
to form Cushman &
Wakefield/Commercial
Advisors, Aiken worked
as director and branch
manager with Cushman
& Wakefield, which had
exited the market in the
early 1990s only to return
more than a decade later. Away from the office,
Aiken stays active with
his church and his family,
including his wife of 33
years, Tricia, and their
three grown children.
Commercial Real Estate
april 2014
Pinnacle Awards
7
Loeb’s Square Efforts Earn Community Impact Award
Amos Maki |
[email protected]
W
hen Sooner Development Co.
proposed razing buildings at
Overton Square to replace
them with a cookie-cutter,
suburban style strip center,
residents, preservationists and folks
with a sentimental attachment to the
Midtown institution drove the company
out of town.
Then a longtime local firm, Loeb
Properties, stepped in with an ambitious plan to breathe new life into “The
Square,” one that preserved and honored the past while charting a course for
a brighter, more sustainable future.
Today, the once-struggling district
is teeming with merchants, shoppers,
diners and, most importantly, hope,
which was in such short supply just a
few years ago.
Because of this, the rejuvenated
Overton Square has been given the 2013
Memphis Area Association of Realtors
Commercial Council 2013 Community
Impact Award.
“We hoped we could do something
positive for the community, something
people would respond to and be proud
of,” said Loeb Properties president
Bob Loeb.
Overton Square’s comeback made a
big impact on the local retail market last
year.
The Memphis area retail market
recorded 346,846 square feet of net
absorption in 2013 and Overton Square
leases and purchases accounted for
more than 125,000 square feet of transactions, according to CB Richard Ellis
Memphis. Overton Square is now 91
percent leased.
Loeb said Memphians’ deeply
rooted affinity for Overton Square, often
spanning two or three generations, has
helped fuel the endeavor’s success.
“When we got started on it initially
we knew there was a lot of goodwill
built up around Overton Square in the
marketplace,” Loeb said. “We had a lot
of stakeholders who were encouraging
us and supporting us and as we started
Community
Impact Award
Overton Square
Loeb Properties
to get into it we found
a wide range of people
who had a sentimental
attachment to Overton
Square and wanted to see
it succeed. What we’ve
found is that that goodwill element was stronger
than we could have measured on the
front end.”
Loeb, which is investing more than
$20 million to bring Overton Square
back to life as a theater, arts and entertainment district, implemented a retail
strategy to draw more daytime foot
traffic to the area to support the already
established nighttime restaurant and
entertainment scene.
“We were determined to make it not
just a nighttime entertainment district,”
Loeb said. “We wanted to activate it during the day. We could have leased it up
earlier with all restaurants but we had
a deliberate strategy to recruit retailers
to bring in daytime traffic. We love the
traffic they bring.”
Loeb has emphasized attracting locally owned businesses as another way
of establishing deeper roots between
Overton Square and the city. “We had built our career on working
with local tenants and we had a good
sense that we could – if we cleaned it up
and fixed it up – welcome people back
in and merchants and the city would
Overton Square
embrace it,” said Loeb.
He said the Overton Square redevelopment project was a perfect fit for the
company, which had a long history of
acquiring and improving smaller retail
centers and stand-alone buildings.
“This was just a number of rehabs
congregated in one district and that’s
how we approached it,” Loeb said.
In redesigning Overton Square, Loeb
officials and LRK Inc. planners paid special attention to making the area more
inviting for pedestrians and activating
common spaces like the city-funded
parking garage and a new courtyard.
This year, Loeb will increase programming at Overton Square, bringing
in farmers and artists markets and other
special events.
“We’re about half-way there with
tenant delivery,” Loeb said. “This
year is the year we’ll start adding our
programming and we’re going to have
programming on a regular basis. It’s
programming that keeps people coming
back.”
Loeb Properties has installed public
art throughout Overton Square to help
create a distinct identity and foster more
intimate, personal connections with
visitors. Examples include large murals
that now adorn the former Palm Court
building, a towering sculpture hovers
over the intersection of Cooper Street
and Madison Avenue, and a large arch
helps guide visitors leaving the parking
garage to the heart of the district.
“We knew we wanted to have
Overton Square be a fusion of authentic
Memphis arts,” Loeb said. “I think it’s
brought personality and energy to it.”
While he said he was a little surprised that the project became so successful so quickly, Loeb said he knew the
effort would have broad-based community support and that the community’s
passion for the project fuels every decision the company makes.
“It’s coming along better than we
originally hoped,” he said. “It’s taken
an enormous amount of energy and attention and time, but because of all the
support we’ve received it’s motivated us
to be our best and produce something
we can be proud of and the community
can be proud of it.”
Top 25
Michael Waddell
Special to The Daily News
T
ommy Bronson III,
senior vice president of
the multifamily division
of CB Richard Ellis
Memphis, has been
involved in the acquisition,
disposition and investment of
commercial and residential
real estate in the Mid-South
for more than a decade.
Since 2005 when he joined
CBRE, he has sold 30,000 multifamily units totaling more
than $1.3 billion.
“The rewards of commercial real estate – from the
personal client relationships to
the intricacies of a deal to see-
Mississippi Gulf
ing a transaction
Coast.
through to the
“2013 was anfinish line – can be
other
strong year
very gratifying,”
in
the
Memphis
Bronson said. “You
multifamily
marare always faced
ket,
as
sales
were
with new and
in line with recent
unique challenges
years in terms of
in this business
number of transand helping
actions and total
clients overcome
Bronson III
volume,” Bronson
these challenges is
CB Richard Ellis Memphis LLC
said. “Class A locaalways a motivattions in suburban
ing factor.” and
Downtown
submarkets
Bronson, a native Memonce
again
accounted
for the
phian, is responsible for the
bulk
of
transactional
volbrokerage of multifamily real
ume, and we saw some great
estate across the Mid-South,
price per unit sales in these
including Memphis; Jackson,
locations.”
Miss.; Little Rock, Ark.; and the
Significant
we continue to see
accomplishments
new capital coming
last year for his
to Memphis from
team included
all parts of the
closing on the
country.”
Country Squire
Bronson is a
and Riverset
licensed affiliate
Top 25
properties, which
broker in Tennestotaled nearly
see, Mississippi and
Tommy
1,500 units.
Alabama, and he
“Both preholds memberships
Bronson III
sented great
in the Memphis
Position:
opportunities
Area Association of
Senior Vice President
to add value to
Realtors, ApartCompany:
older properment Association of
CB Richard Ellis Memphis
ties,” Bronson
Greater Memphis,
said. “Value-add
Tennessee Apartopportunities
ment Association
and the National Apartment
continue to be sought after
Association.
throughout the market, and
8
Pinnacle Awards
Commercial Real Estate
april 2014
‘Grinding Out Deals’ Lands Argiro Inaugural Award
Amos Maki |
[email protected]
Grit-n-Grind
Broker
of the Year
Tony Argiro
Position:
Senior Leasing
Representative
Company:
Highwoods Properties Inc.
Tony Argiro
Highwoods Properties Inc.
W
hen Memphis Area Association of Realtors Commercial
Council members were
considering a name for a new
Pinnacle Award recognizing the broker who completed the
most sales and leasing transactions
regardless of size or category type,
the Memphis Grizzlies immediately
came to mind.
The Grizzlies’ blue-collar, come
to work every day style of play led
the Commercial Council to name the
honor the Grit-n-Grind Broker of the
Year award.
“It’s part of the continuing revamping of the awards and we wanted to
come up with awards that had more
meaning,” said Tony Argiro, senior
leasing representative with Highwoods
Properties Inc. and co-chairman of the
Pinnacle Awards. “It’s the perfect name
for this award.”
Well, it turns out Argiro, 37, got his
grind on, so to speak, in 2013 and for
his efforts will take home the inaugural
Grizzlies-themed award.
“We were just grinding out deals,
working, working, working,” Argiro said.
Argiro was quick to deflect attention and shower praise on his Highwoods partners, including Steve Guinn
and John Mercer.
“I’m fortunate to have good mentors,” Argiro said. “They’ve been
very successful in this business for a
long time.”
Similar to the Grizzlies, who rely
on total team effort instead of one or
two superstars, Argiro said the whole
Highwoods roster helped propel the
Memphis office to a strong year.
“You don’t work on the number of
projects I worked on by yourself,” he
said. “We have a lot of people doing
a lot of things to make Highwoods
successful. The approach we take at
Highwoods is we want companies and
customers to come to our buildings
and feel comfortable with us. That’s
partners at Highwoods also remained
focused on resigning existing tenants,
an important task in a market that is
not experiencing a large influx of new
white-collar jobs.
“If you’re not bringing in new
business then you have to grow what
you’ve got,” he said. “There was a lot
of focus on keeping the customers we
have, keeping them in our building and
not allowing them to go somewhere
else. You kind of pride yourself on not
allowing people to leave you.”
After graduating from Christian
Brothers University in 1999, Argiro
worked at the Greater Memphis Chamber for over three years before entering the commercial real estate world.
He started with the Walker Cos. before
moving to CB Richard Ellis Memphis
and then the Staubach Co. Argiro then
moved to a small Memphis development firm just before the economy
crashed.
In October 2009, Argiro said his
boss approached him, holding back
tears, and said he might not be able to
pay Argiro in another few weeks. Like
so many others, Argiro’s livelihood was
in doubt.
“The first phone call I made was
to Steve (Guinn),” Argiro said. “It’s a
night-and-day difference from that
world to where I am today. After going
through all that I feel very fortunate to
be here at Highwoods.”
really our goal, to fill up our buildings
and make our customers happy.”
Argiro said he still gets a thrill
from seeing the economic ripples that
expand from company expansions or
relocations, watching a formerly shuttered space come to life and the work
that provides for architects, interior
designers, contractors and others.
“Every single lease we sign at Highwoods has a short-term impact and a
long-term impact,” Argiro said. “When
it hits home is when you see – and it
doesn’t matter if it’s a 1,000-squarefoot office user or a 10,000-square-foot
user – the architecture firms involved,
the contractors involved, and you
walk into a suite that was dark and
you see 10 or 15 people at work. That’s
when you really see the importance
of commercial real estate in general.
Even if it’s a renewal with an existing
company you see how many lives are
impacted by it.”
After suffering through one of the
most depressed periods for the commercial real estate industry in history,
Argiro said the recovery of the Memphis office market and the desire to
keep existing tenants helped increase
his work flow in 2013.
The Memphis office market,
buoyed by an unusually strong fourth
quarter, ended 2013 with positive net
absorption of 40,558 square feet, according to CB Richard Ellis Memphis.
The vacancy rate for Class A space
in the highly coveted East Memphis
submarket, where the city’s prime office properties are located, dipped to
5.4 percent by the end of 2013, which
amounts to around 143,947 square feet
of available space. Highwoods owns
several of the most coveted properties,
including the Crescent Center and the
three Triad Centre buildings.
“That Class A space on the Poplar
corridor in East Memphis is going
pretty quick,” Argiro said. “The overall
office market is recovering. It’s a slow
recovery but it’s recovering.”
While they did seek out new leases
and relocations, Argiro said he and his
“I’m fortunate to have
good mentors. They’ve
been very successful
in this business
for a long time.”
– Tony Argiro
Highwoods Properties Inc.
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1750 E. Brooks Rd., Memphis, TN
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www.summittruckgroup.com
Commercial Real Estate
april 2014
Pinnacle Awards
9
Woodyard’s Long-Term Focus on Multifamily Pays Off
Amos Maki |
[email protected]
S
teve Woodyard grew up
in nearby Helena, Ark.,
but Memphis was never
far from his mind.
“As teenagers we
certainly snuck up here a lot
for the concerts and all the
fun opportunities,” Woodyard
said with a laugh.
After graduating from
the University of Mississippi,
Woodyard settled in Memphis and began his career
in commercial real estate in
1984, working in the investment division at Crye-Leike
Commercial.
Woodyard said he quickly
realized that he wanted to
specialize in one sector of
the commercial real estate
spectrum – the multifamily
market.
“Starting off back in 1984,
straight out of college, the
commercial real estate business is a wide-open field with
a lot of categories I could
choose from and I just decided
I wanted to do one thing really
well,” said Woodyard, founder
and owner of Memphis-based
Woodyard Realty Corp.
Woodyard’s long-term
focus on the multifamily sector has paid off. Woodyard
has garnered the Memphis
Area Association of Realtors
Commercial Council’s inaugural Pinnacle Award for Local
Firm Broker of the Year, given
to the top-producing broker
based on dollar volume associated with lease transactions
and/or investment sales from
an individual not affiliated
with a national firm.
In the past, Woodyard
has also won the Apartment
Broker of the Year award and
has been a Life Member of
MAAR’s Multi-Million Dollar
Club since the 1990s. However, Woodyard seems to be
most proud of two brokers
in his firm, Lea Heilig and
Courtney Barnes, winning
the New Commercial Broker of the Year Award in
back-to-back years several
years ago.
After working for CryeLeike Commercial and then
RFS Realty, Woodyard formed
Woodyard Realty Corp. in
1998. Starting his own commercial real estate firm turned
out to be a seamless transition, Woodyard said.
“In the real estate business
you essentially do (own your
own business) even if you fly
a different banner,” Woodyard
said. “It just went from one
name on the letter to another.
I was doing exactly the same
thing with exactly the same
people.”
Woodyard said one of his
favorite aspects of specializing
in the multifamily sector is
forming relationships with investors, especially those who
might not have a background
in real estate or finance.
“It gives the normal, average investor the opportunity
to improve their financial
well-being,” Woodyard said.
“That’s the part that gets me
excited. It’s something the
common person can come
in and buy and doing very
well with.”
Woodyard said the multifamily market remains a great
vehicle for wealth creation.
“I just think multifamily is the best opportunity to
provide retirement income,”
he said. “I have clients and
they’re out traveling and having fun and they’ve got their
investments working for them
instead of working for their
investments.”
Woodyard said the local
multifamily market is experiencing a surge following
a few slower-than-normal
years after the onset of the
recession.
“Our market peaked on the
multifamily side around 2006
or 2007, and from 2008 to
2010 we were on a downward
trend pretty fast and we prob-
Steve Woodyard
Woodyard Realty Corp.
ably hit close to bottom in
2010,” Woodyard said. “While
those were all very good years
from the sales side, it wasn’t
the volume of transactions
that we had from 2000 to
2006.”
The Memphis market had
$55 million in multifamily
sales in 2010. That increased
to $323 million in 2012 before dipping to around $239
million last year. Rents and
occupancy have also been
on a steady climb since 2010.
Average rent increased from
$693 in 2010 to $748 in 2013.
Occupancy rose from 90
percent in 2010 to 92 percent
in 2013.
Properties built in the
1990s and later continue to
attract strong interest and
properties built earlier in wellpositioned areas that have a
potential for repositioning
remain attractive.
Woodyard said one of
the biggest local real estate
opportunities for investors
is purchasing older apartment communities and upgrading them.
“There’s a lot of potential
left in the older-generation
properties,” Woodyard said.
“There are huge opportunities to come in and swoop
those up.
“Through all submarkets
where there are distressed
properties, the non-distressed
properties have
high occupancies. What that
is telling us is if
you fix them up
the people will
come.”
But Woodyard said those
properties may
not be available
Local Firm
for much lonBroker
ger as more and
of the Year
more people are
looking to invest
Steve Woodyard
in multifamily
Position:
properties.
President
“We’ve got
another two to
Company:
Woodyard Realty Corp.
three years to
come in and
get these valueadd properties,”
Woodyard said.
“After that, they
will be much
harder to find.”
Top 25
“They’ve always
encouraged me with
rian Califf, broker
real estate, then I finally
associate with
figured out that I liked
NAI/Saig Co., does
it and I majored in it in
“a little bit of evcollege,” said Califf, a
erything,” he says.
Florida State University
While he handles some
graduate.
representation of tenants
Last year was his best
in leases and sales, his
year so far in commermain focus is on landlord
cial real estate as far as a
Califf
and buyer representation
combination of sales and
NAI Saig. Co.
for properties that have
leasing goes.
He says he personincome. These include ofally
saw
the
most
activity since 2005
fice buildings, industrial buildings and
retail centers that have tenants in place
when the real estate market was
and a proven cash flow.
at a peak.
Now in his ninth year, real es“It seems like financing has loostate is a family business for Califf
ened up in the market, so it was a little
– his grandfather was a real estate
bit easier for people to secure a loan on
appraiser and his father is a closinvestment property or all property for
that matter,” he said.
ing attorney.
Richard J. Alley
Special to The Daily News
B
done. We’ve got a lot in the
“And it seems like the
pipeline, but it looks posibuyers are tired of sittive from what we’re seeing
ting around waiting and
as far as new investments
they’re starting to look
coming into the market.
for some places to spend
We’re seeing a lot of outall the cash that they’ve
of-town people are buying
had parked on the sidebuildings that have never
line since the economy
Top 25
bought in Memphis before,
crashed.”
which is always positive for
Califf saw a slowdown
Brian Califf
the city.”
from 2009 until late 2010.
Position:
Califf covers a terriDeals were still to be had,
Executive Vice President
tory that includes DeSoto
though the volume had
Company:
County, Jackson, Tenn.,
decreased due to the econNAI Saig. Co.
omy and a more tentative
and all of Memphis. With
wait-and-see approach
all of these areas growing,
from buyers.
it keeps things interesting
“It’s looking good (for 2014),”
in the commercial real estate world.
he said.
“I enjoy it a lot and hopefully will
“We’ve seen a lot of activity to start
continue doing it,” he said. “Every
the year off. Obviously you can’t say
deal has its challenges, but that’s what
100 percent until you get some deals
makes this exciting.”
10
Pinnacle Awards
Commercial Real Estate
april 2014
Murchison Has ‘One of Best Years’ in CRE
Richard J. Alley |
Special to The Daily News
T
he leader of the industrial assets
services leasing team for CB
Richard Ellis Memphis, Brad
Murchison specializes in landlord
representation and is responsible for the oversight of the team,
which consists of agent Bryce Daves
as well.
Now in his 10th year in the industry,
Murchison is the 2013 Industrial Landlord Representative Broker of the Year.
Murchison is a native Memphian
who attended the University of Memphis, where his initiation into the world
of commercial real estate was more
fluke than plan.
“I was in my sophomore year of
business school and, as part of our
curriculum, I had to take a couple of
elective courses and saw one for principles of real estate and signed up for
it,” he said.
“Kind of like everybody else, I
thought I wanted to go into marketing
or accounting or finance, and I took
the real estate class and I was like ‘you
know, I really like this’ and wanted
to explore it further. I signed up for
a couple more classes and, before I
knew it, I was graduating with a real
estate degree.”
He began his career as an intern
for CBRE in 2004. Upon graduating
he began full time on the retail side
before transitioning into industrial two
years later.
“I was very thankful that I at least
had a job, but as I really got into it and
cut my teeth on the retail side, did a lot
of work with our team, and there was
an opportunity for me to move over
and fill a gap on the industrial side.”
Making such a move was very
much more planning than fluke, proving that Murchison had studied the
markets and knew where he wanted to
2013 Pinnacle
Awards
Program
Agenda
make his mark.
“We are considered America’s
Distribution Center, and with the
companies that are based here, the
airport we have, FedEx is based here,
I kind of made that jump thinking this
is what this town is about, we’re about
warehousing and distribution,” he said.
“I felt like making that switch was good
and I really haven’t looked back.”
Clients today include Prologis,
Industrial Income Trust, DCT Industrial Trust, New York Life Insurance
Co., Augustus Holdings and Invesco
Real Estate.
“Last year was a good year; we had
several deals that had been in the
works for a long time that we were
able to get to the closing table in 2013,
which gave me the opportunity to have
one of my best years in commercial
real estate,” he said.
“We had clients that were actively
negotiating these deals along with us,
you’re talking a couple of these took 12
to 18 months to materialize, and they
all came together in 2013.”
Some of those deals include a
285,000-square-foot lease by DCT
Industrial, an 812,000-square-foot with
Triyar and a 600,000-square-foot lease
with Carter & Associates.
“The larger they get, the longer
the deal cycle is,” he said. “We had a
couple of those deals in the 600,000to 800,000-square-foot range that
we were able to close in 2013, they
were part of that 12- to 18-month
deal cycle.”
The Memphis market has roughly
214 million square feet of industrial
space, with about 96 million of that
footage in Southeast Shelby County.
The 9 million to 10 million represented
by CBRE, Murchison said, is located in
that submarket.
EMCEE
Tanis Hackmeyer
MAAR Commercial Council
President
PINNACLE PRODUCERS
CLUB
PINNACLE PRODUCERS
CLUB LIFE MEMBERS
COMMUNITY IMPACT
AWARD
Loeb Properties – Overton
Square
TOP 25 PRODUCERS
There has already been a lot of
activity in the commercial real estate
market for 2014, and it has Murchison
excited for the upcoming year.
“We have spent a lot of time early
on this year showing a lot of properties,
responding to multiple requests for
proposals. We’re seeing activity mainly
in the square footages of 250,000
square feet and below.
“Still some activity in what we call
the bulk industrial segment, but most
of our time this year has been spent
chasing the deals that are between as
small as 25,000 square feet and up into
that 150,000- to 200,000-square-foot
range has been the brunt of our activity
thus far this year.”
When not showing some of the
most massive warehousing around to
clients, Murchison enjoys family time
with his wife, Allyson, and their two
children, Lila, 5, and Colin, 3.
“I really enjoy spending time with
family and all of the amenities Memphis has to offer,” Murchison said.
He also enjoys outdoor activities
such as golf and hunting.
“Summer months I’m playing
around the golf course,” he said. “Winter months I’m traditionally running
around the Mississippi Delta chasing a
bunch of ducks.”
Murchison, 32, is director of the
MAAR Commercial Council and will
be vice president in 2015, and is going
through the New Memphis Institute
Fellows Program. He has previously
been recognized by MAAR in 2007,
2008 and 2011.
Industrial
Landlord
Broker
of the Year
Brad Murchison
Position:
Vice President
Company:
CB Richard Ellis Memphis
Brad Murchison
CB Richard Ellis Memphis LLC
BROKERS OF THE YEAR
Investment Sales Industrial
Investment Sales Office
Investment Sales Retail
Investment Sales Multifamily
Industrial Landlord Representative
Industrial Tenant Representative
Land
Retail Landlord Representative
Retail Tenant Representative
Office Landlord Representative
Office Tenant Representative
Grit & Grind
Local Firm
COMMERCIAL BROKER OF
THE YEAR
Scott Pahlow
Newmark Grubb Memphis
COMMERCIAL HALL OF
FAME INDUCTEE
Dave McComas
retired
Commercial Real Estate
april 2014
Top 25
body coming here new and
taking a significant amount
s part of the team
of space off the market
that brokered the
because they’re moving to
deal in 2013 for
Memphis, and we haven’t
Wright Medical’s
seen that in five years or
move to its new
more,” he said. “It’s a good
122,653-square-foot headindication that Memphis is
quarters on Cherry Road
being looked at by compain the heart of the city,
nies in other markets, and
Ron Kastner, senior vice
that’s what fuels a local
Kastner
president for CB Richard
office market’s growth is
CB Richard Ellis Memphis LLC
Ellis, had a very good year
the absorption by not preindeed.
existing companies.”
This move by Wright,
As recent as three
recently purchased by Miyears ago the typical
croPort and broken into
Memphis user of office
two companies, was a big
space, those occupying
portion of the absorption
5,000 square feet or so,
seen in the fourth quarter.
was absent in the market,
Other deals in that final
Kastner says.
quarter included 27,055
“They were not doing
Top 25
square feet by Financial
anything but ducking and
Federal in the Renaiscovering still” following
Ron Kastner
sance Center, and Trustthe economy’s decline, he
Position:
mark Bank with 12,622
said.
Senior Vice President
square feet on Poplar
“I will say that in 2013
Avenue.
and
2014, that user is a
Company:
CB Richard Ellis Memphis
“Memphis needed a
little bit more confident,
shot in the arm,” Kastner
is no longer decreasing its
said. “Last year we all looked back at it
workforce and, in fact, maybe even addas being a return of some of the fundaing to its workforce.
mentals that drove some prior years of
“That’s what fuels space being
good absorption.”
absorbed – existing companies needing
Another shot began in 2013 with
more room because they’re hiring more
the commitment from Conduit Global
people.”
to bring 1,000 jobs to the Memphis
Kastner looks to the future and a
market.
trend of more out-of-state companies
“That’s a good example of somerelocating to Memphis.
Richard J. Alley
Special to The Daily News
A
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Industrial
Top 25 Producer
2013 Pinnacle Award Winners
J. Hickman
Industrial
Pinnacle Producers Club
Ron Riley
Office
Pinnacle Producers Club
Tim Mashburn
Industrial
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11
12
Pinnacle Awards
Commercial Real Estate
april 2014
Top 25
small users.
“In the first quarter of
rad Kornegay,
2014, we’ve enjoyed the
president and CEO
best activity we’ve had in
of asset services for
the past four or five years,”
Colliers Internasaid Kornegay, who began
tional in Memphis,
working with Trammell
loves the art of making a
Crow in 1992 and ran the
deal, and his team’s produccompany’s industrial divition last year was buoyed
sion – the largest in the city
by an influx of transactions
during that time – for eight
Kornegay
with smaller users.
years before leaving to join
Colliers International Asset
“Last year our smaller
Colliers in 2004.
Services
activity from momSince then his Coland-pop businesses and
liers team has grown from
regional companies was
six employees to 40, and
fairly active, but we were
Kornegay now oversees the
not seeing many deals from
leasing and management
larger, corporate playof more than 33 million
ers,” said Kornegay, whose
square feet spanning apspecialty during his 22-plus
proximately 300 buildings
years in the industry has
and nearly 500 tenants in
always been with industrial
industrial, office and retail
Top 25
properties. “Overall in the
space.
market I think lease and
“The biggest accomBrad Kornegay
transaction volumes were
plishment for me and our
Position:
down in 2013 compared to
company from last year
President
past years.”
is that we grew our office
Company:
Sizeable deals last
portfolio to more than 1
Colliers International
year for Kornegay and
million square feet,” he said.
Asset Services
his team included lining
In his career, he has
up 382,000 square feet of
completed more than 720
space in Olive Branch for Bizchair, as
lease transactions totaling more than
well as handling a 550,000-square-foot
52.5 million square feet and in excess of
build-to-suit project in Southaven for
$853 million.
Gemco Lamp.
With two teenage children, KoLuckily, this year activity has
rnegay and his wife, Betty, stay
picked up in a big way from large and
very active.
Michael Waddell
Special to The Daily News
B
Top 25 Producers
Brian Califf, CCIM
Blake Pera, CCIM
Preston Thomas, CCIM
Steve Guinn, CCIM
Andrew Phillips, CCIM
Kelly Truitt, CCIM
2013 Pinnacle Producers Club
Jon Albright, CCIM
Cathy Anderson, CCIM
Bill Caller
Dave Curan, Jr., CCIM
Frank Dyer III, CCIM
Rosemarie Fair, CCIM
Jeb Fields, CCIM
Tanis Hackmeyer, CCIM
Mark Jenkins, CCIM
Shawn Massey, CCIM
Terry Radford, CCIM
Ed Thomas, CCIM
Conner Walker
Matt Weathersby, CCIM
Allen Wilkinson, CCIM
Excellence in Commercial Real Estate
Commercial Real Estate
Pinnacle Awards
april 2014
Top 25
“That goes for the
Special to The Daily News
tenant side and the invesank Martin, vice
tor side,” he said. “The
president at NAI
investors that were in this
Saig Co., has
market two to three years
always handled
ago have mostly sold out
deals involving
the market, and in the last
a variety of commercial
year we’ve seen some new
property types – office,
investors starting to branch
industrial and retail – but
out and come back to this
the bulk of the work during
market as a viable place to
Martin
his career has involved
pick up some portfolios or
NAI Saig Co.
industrial. This past year
buildings.”
70 percent or more of the
Martin is most
deals he completed were
proud of completing
for industrial properties.
deals like the one for a
“We’ve had a long road
600,000-square-foot into get back to positive
dustrial building that Proabsorption in the indusLogis sold to an unnamed
trial market, and last year
East Coast buyer.
was a pretty good year
“The positive from
for that absorption,” said
that deal was that the
Top 25
Martin, who has worked
buyer had not been in this
in the commercial real
market before. He had
Hank Martin
estate business since 1996.
been looking for the right
Position:
“I’m cautiously optimistic.
deal for a couple of years,
Vice President
From the end of last year
and he felt like this oppormoving into this year we
tunity was a good buildCompany:
NAI Saig Co.
are seeing more activity.”
ing at an attractive price
In his career, Martin
that would provide a nice
has been responsible for
return for him,” he said.
the sale, leasing, and/or disposition of
Martin is the president of the Memmore than 20 million square feet of
phis chapter of the Society of Industrial
industrial and office facilities in the
and Office Realtors, and he is a member
Mid-South. He is happy to see expanof the National Association of Realtors,
sion happening from businesses taking
Memphis Area Association of Realtors,
more space, as well as new companies
and the Memphis Chapter Commercial
entering the market.
Investment Real Estate Institute.
Michael Waddell
H
CONGRATULATIONS
CONGRATULATIONS
CONGRATULATIONS
JOHN
MERCER,
JOHN
JOHNMERCER
MERCER
AND
AND
TONY
ARGIRO
AND
TONY
TONYARGIRO
ARGIRO
STEVE
GUINN
2012
2012
PINNACLE
PINNACLE
AWARD
AWARD
WINNERS
WINNERS
2013 PINNACLE AWARD WINNERS
We’ve
We’ve
always
always
known
known
that that
JohnJohn
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TonyTony
are top
are commercial
top commercial
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everyone
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Congratulations
Congratulations
We’ve always known that John, Tony and Steve are top
to John,
to John,
TonyTony
and and
all the
all other
the other
honorees
honorees
selected
selected
by the
by MAAR
the MAAR
commercial real estate brokers. Now everyone else knows,
Commercial
Commercial
Council.
Council.
too. Congratulations to John, Tony, Steve and all the other
honorees selected by the MAAR Commercial Council.
D E V ED
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MAEGNETM E N T
DEVELOPMENT • ACQUISITION • LEASING • ASSET MANAGEMENT
A Pinnacle Award-Winning Team
Top 25
Andy Cates, SIOR
Andrew Phillips, SIOR, CCIM
Brad Kornegay
Preston Thomas, SIOR
New Lifetime Member 2013
Broker of the Year Investment Sales Retail
Producers
Club
J. Hickman
Tim Mashburn
Ron Riley
Laura Taylor
Ed Thomas, CCIM
Allen Wilkinson, SIOR, CCIM
Reach the pinnacle
We know it’s all about location, location, location. And setting your sights on the next move. Our awardwinning team at Colliers International in Memphis has the real estate expertise and strength to lead you
into new territory locally or around the world – taking you to new heights.
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13
Pinnacle Awards
14
Commercial Real Estate
april 2014
Top 25
Top 25
I got in it was really contagious, the excitement of
entley Pembroke,
the day-to-day challenges
vice president with
and working on all of these
Cushman & Waketransactions. You never
field/Commercial
really know what to expect,
Advisors Asset
it’s not the same thing day
Services LLC, was raised
in and day out; its been a lot
in Memphis and attended
of fun, I just really enjoy it.”
Christian Brothers High
Pembroke began with
School and the University
Commercial Advisors in
Pembroke
of Mississippi.
2005 and focuses on landCushman & Wakefield/
It was while at college
lord representation of office
Commercial Advisors
that he studied marketbuildings.
Asset Services LLC
ing and set his course for
“It definitely was a
a career in advertising.
good year last year,” he
The harsh winds of reality
said. While not wanting
would change that course.
to single out a specific
“I thought I wanted
client, he says, “I’m the
to go into the account
most appreciative of my
management side of
landlord clients that have
advertising,” he said. “I got
instilled their trust in me
into that industry and just
over the years. … Our ofTop 25
realized quickly that it just
fice portfolio is a little over
wasn’t a right fit for me
2 million-square feet, and
Bentley
long term.”
just having multiple buildPembroke
He quickly got out,
ings and multiple subPosition:
networked, talked to some
markets has really been
Vice President
industry leaders in the
fortunate.”
Company:
commercial real estate
He sees that good forCushman & Wakefield/
market and was hooked.
tune
spreading throughout
Commercial Advisors
“There’s just some2014, feeding off that exAsset Services LLC
thing about the commercitement he saw in others
cial real estate guys that
early on, and hopes for
just had a general enthusimore growth in job rates
asm for what they did,” he said. “That’s
and the economy in general to spur the
what drew me to the business and, once
growth in the office market.
companies growing. There
was a cycle there where
ichael Moreverybody was contractgan, senior
ing, everybody was getting
associate with
smaller and it’s certainly
CB Richard
nice to go through a cycle
Ellis Memphis,
where you’re seeing and
works on a three-man
hearing about organic
team with Kelly Truitt and
growth, which presents
Pat Gamble specializing in
a lot of opportunities for
office tenant representaus to help move tenants
tion.
around, whether it be at
Morgan
CB Richard Ellis Memphis LLC
Morgan attended
their existing locations
Southern Methodist Unior in other buildings elseversity for a bachelor’s
where.”
degree in public affairs
It’s that sort of growth
and crisis management.
that keeps real estate
In the industry for 10
professionals reaching and
years, all with CBRE, he
looking to the next year.
said he knew all along
“We’re off to a little
it was the career for
bit of a slow start, but the
him. The work is in his
phone is ringing and we’re
blood.
optimistic that we’ll have
“My dad was a real
another successful year
Top 25
estate developer and I
this year,” Morgan said of
always had an eye on
2014.
Michael Morgan
real estate,” Morgan said.
Morgan is a recent
Position:
Clients include
graduate of the New
Senior Associate
Sedgwick CMS, ALSAC/
Memphis Institute. He also
Company:
St. Jude, Vitro America,
received a MAAR Pinnacle
CB Richard Ellis Memphis
Harrah’s Entertainaward in 2009, 2011 and
ment, Inventory Locator
2012, and credits his CBRE
Services and Duncancolleagues, Truitt and
Williams Inc.
Gamble, and the synergy
Regarding 2013, Morgan said that
they all have together, with much of
“Last year was a good year, we’re
that success.
continuing to see momentum and
“We truly are a team,” he said.
Richard J. Alley
Richard J. Alley
Special to The Daily News
Special to The Daily News
B
M
Top 25
Insight
Value
Knowledge
Congratulations
to Russ Westlake
and Jack Wohrman
for another award
winning year!
Experience
Expertise
Teamwork
A world of expertise built around you
Whatever your assets, needs or
aspirations, our in-depth local knowledge
and far-reaching global insight will help you
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Find out how we can drive results for your
organization, visit www.jll.com/tennessee
in Southeast Memphis, a
corporate headquarters
reston Thomas Jr.,
and distribution center for
vice president of
client Dufresne Spencer
Industrial SerGroup, the local Ashley Furvices for Colliers
niture licensee. In addition,
International,
he sold several large indusmoved from his hometrial facilities in Northern
town of Greenwood, Miss.,
Mississippi for other clients.
to Memphis for reasons of
With the success of the past
logistics.
seven years, Thomas has a
Thomas Jr.
Both to be near his
sunny outlook for 2014.
Colliers International
girlfriend living in Oxford
“I think this year could
and his hunting camp in
be better than last year, it’s
the Mississippi Delta, and
going to be a great year,”
for the opportunity to
he said. “There are a lot of
work within the logistics
great things happening in
community selling and
the Memphis market. …
leasing warehouses for
We’re working on several
Colliers.
nice-sized projects that will
The buyer and tenant
hopefully positively impact
representative began with
the market.”
Top 25
the company in 2006 and
Thomas was a Top
a year later partnered with
10 Young Memphis BusiPreston
Andy Cates.
ness Recipient for 2012;
Thomas
Jr.
“We’ve been an inreceived the CoStar Power
Position:
dustrial real estate team
Broker Award for Industrial
Vice President of
since 2007,” Thomas said.
Leasing, 2007-2011; and
Industrial Services
“Our business has been
was named to the MAAR
Company:
growing ever since I
Pinnacle Producer’s Club
Colliers International
started working at Colliers,
in 2011. Over these years,
probably 100 percent year
though, he’s learned there
after year.”
is no resting on one’s laurels. The
Last year follows that trajectory,
name of the real estate game is to keep
having been his best year ever in the inmoving forward and to stay in close
dustry, due in large part to the purchase
communication with clients’ needs
of a 225,000-square-foot warehouse
and their growth.
Richard J. Alley
Special to The Daily News
P
Commercial Real Estate
april 2014
Pinnacle Awards
15
‘Odd Jobs’ Yield CRE Success for Westlake
Michael Waddell |
Special to The Daily News
R
ussell Westlake, managing
director at Jones Lang LaSalle,
originally thought he wanted to
be an architect instead of a commercial real estate professional,
since he had always been interested
in the architectural styles of various
property types.
He had a close family friend who
was very successful in the commercial
real estate industry and felt that it was
something he would enjoy.
“As result, I began working odd
jobs with commercial real estate firms
as early as high school and knew by
my college years that this was what I
wanted to pursue,” Westlake said.
Westlake now counts more than
30 years of diversified experience in
general brokerage, tenant representation, agency representation, asset
management and development, having
successfully negotiated more than 35
million square feet of office and industrial lease and sale transactions totaling
in excess of $750 million. Westlake’s achievements last year
netted him 2013 Industrial Lease Tenant Broker of the Year honors.
He works primarily in the office
and industrial sectors, but over the
years his production has been a little
more heavily weighted toward industrial.
“Frankly, I like the unique challenges of both office and industrial
opportunities and feel very fortunate
to be in a position to work with each
sector,” he said.
Westlake’s background has included
tenant representation, corporate transaction management, development and
project leasing.
“I’ve had some great opportunities
over the years and am very glad that
position at the Weston Cos. brought
me to Memphis 23 years ago,” said
Westlake, who credits David Peck as a
mentor who taught him about the busi-
ness and the importance of attention to
detail and customer service.
“I feel very fortunate to be a part
of JLL,” Westlake said. “My association
with JLL has allowed me opportunities I never would have had without
having access to such a deep and robust
platform.”
Westlake classifies the 2013 industrial market in Memphis as improved
in all areas.
“Build-to-suit and speculative
development have picked up after an
extended period of inactivity,” Westlake said.
“In addition to strong activity
within the distribution side, recent
local manufacturing successes and expansions such as Mitsubishi, Electrolux
and Nucor are particularly refreshing.”
Looking back on 2013, Westlake
counts several major accomplishments,
such as working with colleagues at JLL
to gain the opportunity to work with
FedEx as a client in a transaction management capacity.
He believes Memphis is very well
positioned to continue to see significant industrial growth, thanks to
a combination of the area’s central
geographical location, the significant
growth of e-commerce, proximity and
convenience to the FedEx World Hub,
and the strong transportation offering
of rail, river, runway and road.
“Fortunately, being located along
the nation’s third-busiest trucking corridor and our ability to offer service
from five Class 1 railroads makes the
area particularly accessible,” he said.
“The railroads’ ability to see the bright
future for industrial growth in our area
is further confirmed and endorsed by
their recent investment in excess of
$500 million in infrastructure in the
Mid-South region.”
In addition to focusing on Memphis, he believes it is important to
continue to view the local market from
Industrial
Lease Tenant
Broker
of the Year
Russell Westlake
Position:
Managing Director
Company:
Jones Lang LaSalle
Russell Westlake
Jones Lang LaSalle
a larger metro market perspective.
“While there was favorable industrial activity in the Southeast submarket of Memphis, including the sizable
leases with TJ Maxx and Bryce Corp.,
much of the industrial activity from
a development and absorption perspective occurred in DeSoto County,”
said Westlake, who cites notable leases
and design/build activity from GENCO,
Milwaukee Tool, Helen of Troy, Jimco
Lamp and Patterson Warehouse.
For Westlake, delivering top-notch
service to his valued clients is first and
foremost.
“Nothing is more rewarding than
delivering favorable results to a satisfied client and the opportunity to do
repeat business,” he said. “I am always
very thankful for the confidence and
loyalty of these clients.”
Westlake is a member of the Co-
Star Advisory Board and the MAAR
Commercial Council board of directors, and he is a graduate of Leadership
Memphis as well as The Leadership
Academy-LDI Masters Program.
Away from work, during the past
year he became involved with the
Exchange Club Family Center, and he
remains very active with the Boys and
Girls Club of Greater Memphis.
“I consider myself blessed and recognize the importance of helping those
that happen to be in less fortunate
circumstances for whatever reason,”
Westlake said. “As result, I have tried
to devote as much time and effort as
possible to community involvement.
This comes easy, as I am a huge fan of
Memphis.”
Westlake and his wife are relaxing
these days as new empty nesters, with
their two children now in college.
Top 25
Michael Waddell
Special to The Daily News
A
ndy Cates, executive vice president of
brokerage services for
Colliers International
in Memphis, classifies
2013 as a great year for industrial sales.
He and his team completed
56 deals for approximately $34
million last year, while seeing
a trend away from short-term
transactions.
“With the markets getting
better, many people were trying to lock in long-term rates.
It was great for the owners of
those buildings to get a little
more stability,” said Cates, who
saw activity pick up in Memphis and Nashville.
Cates became
in 450-plus transa partner and
actions totaling
vice president at
more than 45 milColliers Wilkinson
lion square feet.
Snowden, which
He expects the
now operates as
local industrial
Colliers Internamarket to contional, in 2005. He
tinue to improve
graduated from
through 2014
Rhodes College
thanks to minimal
in 1998 with a
new construction.
“I don’t think
Bachelor of Arts
Cates
Colliers International Memphis
anyone is going
in history and
to build in Shelby
ended up gravitatCounty any time soon,” said
ing toward the commercial
Cates, who expects any conreal estate industry based on
struction to happen in DeSoto
recommendations from a few
or Marshall counties.
close friends.
Cates became a member of
During his 15 years reprethe Society of Industrial and
senting corporations, landlords
Office Realtors (SIOR) in 2004
and investors in the Memphis
and is a past president of the
area, Cates has been involved
member of the
Memphis chapBoscos Cycling
ter. He has also
served on the
Team, which raisMAAR Commeres money each
year for multiple
cial Council. He
sclerosis.
spent five years
“By particion the Cooperpating in various
Young Developrides last year
ment Board, and
Top 25
we were able to
he serves as an
raise more than
elder for Idlewild
Andy Cates
$30,000 for MS.
Presbyterian
Position:
Church and is a
We’re trying to
President
past chairman
hit $40,000 this
Company:
of its House and
year,” he said.
Colliers International
Properties comCates, his
Memphis
mittee.
wife, Mary AlliAway from
son (the owner of
the office, Cates
Sew Memphis in
recently has been involved
Midtown), and their two young
with the “Brewery On Tap”
sons try to spend as much time
project Downtown and he is a
outdoors as possible.
16
Pinnacle Awards
Commercial Real Estate
april 2014
Entrepreneurial Spirit Drives Pera in Busy Sector
Michael Waddell |
B
Special to The Daily News
lake Pera, executive vice
president of CB Richard
Ellis Memphis’ multifamily division, is grateful his parents instilled
in him a strong work ethic at a
young age.
Pera has now been successfully involved in commercial
real estate for nearly 20 years,
and he is currently responsible
for CBRE’s multifamily real estate brokerage in
Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas
and Louisiana.
“2013 was
another great
year for multifamily owners in
Memphis,” said
Pera, a native
Memphian who
is Investment
Sales Multifamily Broker of the
Year. “The market
experienced continued steady rent
growth, and the
investment sales
market posted
another healthy
year.”
Pera cites his
team’s closing of
a number of large
transactions last
year – like the
972-unit Country
Squire and the
500-unit Riverset Apartments
– as significant accomplishments of 2013.
“While we closed transactions with buyers we have
worked with for a number of
years, it was also enjoyable
bringing a number of new
buyers to the market – groups
from all over the country in-
cluding Boston, New York and
Chicago,” he said.
He feels interest was good
throughout the city last year,
especially in Cordova and
Downtown where nearly 70
percent of overall activity occurred.
“There continues to be
great interest in the newer
properties, but it was good to
see more depth from buyers
his success.
“We have a great team and
what we do is fun, yet always
presents new challenges,” Pera
said.
“Our team has built great
relationships over the years,
so it is also rewarding to work
with clients who have also
become personal friends over
the years. Being able to get out
of the office and interact with
Investment
Sales
Multifamily
Broker
of the Year
Blake Pera
Position:
Executive Vice President
Company:
CB Richard Ellis Memphis
Blake Pera
CB Richard Ellis Memphis LLC
interested in looking at older
properties in non-Class A locations,” Pera said. “There were
a few sales of stable, older
properties in our Class B locations last year, and this trend is
continuing through the beginning of 2014 as well.”
Pera credits his team at
CBRE as a motivating factor in
a number of clients also keeps
things fresh.” He sees strong fundamentals in the Memphis multifamily market right now and
thinks the positive trends
should continue thanks to a
stable and growing economy.
“New supply has been
lower than pre-recession
“We have a great team and what we do is fun, yet
always presents new challenges.”
– Blake Pera
CB Richard Ellis Memphis LLC
levels, and the market has
posted solid occupancy and
rent growth gains the last few
years,” Pera said. Pera received the Certified Commercial Investment
Member (CCIM) designation in 2001. He is certified
as a licensed affiliate broker
in Tennessee, Mississippi,
Louisiana and Alabama, and
holds memberships in the
Memphis Area Association of
Realtors’ Commercial Council,
the Apartment Association of
Greater Memphis, the Tennessee Apartment Association and
National Apartment Association.
He received the Commercial Broker of the Year award
in 2011 from the Memphis
Area Association of Realtors,
and he was named top multifamily broker by MAAR for 10
consecutive years. He reached
a milestone within CBRE
worldwide in 2005 when he
was recognized as a top-200
producer, and he is a member
of the Colbert Coldwell Circle,
the highest honor given to
producers within the company, going to the top 3 percent
of brokers.
Before joining CBRE 16
years ago, Pera worked as a
real estate manager for AutoZone Inc. in the late 1990s,
and was responsible for ac-
quiring retail sites throughout
Pennsylvania, Connecticut and
Massachusetts.
He became involved in the
real estate business right after
graduating from the University of Tennessee in 1994
with his Bachelor of Science
in marketing. A family friend
gave him the opportunity to
learn the business by working
with him, and he managed a
16-unit property in Midtown.
“Having pretty much free
reign in my job, I was able to
embrace the entrepreneurial
spirit driving me today,” he
said. “Both of my parents were
also very entrepreneurial, and
I am sure I soaked up their
work ethic during my younger
years.”
Now he has transacted
more than $1.9 billion in apartment sales since 2000 and
has sold an estimated 45,000
multifamily units since 1990.
Away from work, Pera
and his wife of more than 15
years, Ashley, stay busy with
their three children under
age 9. They enjoy heading to
Pickwick on weekends during
the summer, and Pera likes to
sneak in an occasional round
of golf. He and his wife have
been very active in the hemophilia community since their
son was diagnosed with the
bleeding disorder.
Top 25
mercial real estate, he
was a “late bloomer,” he
hil Dagassays, not beginning in the
tino, senior vice
industry until 2006, at
president with
the age of 31.
Cushman &
“Real estate was
Wakefield/Comsomething that always inmercial Advisors Asset
terested me, I had a few
Services LLC, grew up
friends that did it and I
in Memphis and atthought, ‘Hey, I’m going
tended the University of
to give this a try,’” he said.
Memphis.
Dagastino began on
Dagastino
Cushman & Wakefield/
Right out of college,
this second career at CB
Commercial Advisors
he sold insurance for
Richard Ellis Memphis
Asset Services LLC
AFLAC for eight years
but moved over to Comand finished tops in the
mercial Advisors two
Memphis metro region
years later, in 2008.
for five straight years.
Because of that timing and catching
Despite a fervent interest in comthe economy on the down slope,
Richard J. Alley
Special to The Daily News
P
Dagastino never experienced the flush years
of the business. Because
he has no pre-slump
comparison, every year
looks better than the one
before.
Last year was no
different and Dagastino
counted on sheer volume
to make 2013 a successful one.
He runs the asset services side, representing
landlords and focusing
on office space.
Reluctant to name
any one client or transaction that might have
Top 25
Phil Dagastino
Position:
Senior Vice President
Company:
Cushman & Wakefield/
Commercial Advisors
Asset Services LLC
outshone others, he says
“they all added up to
have as much value as
the next one, some were
larger than others but
they all counted.”
Dagastino represents
space available in such
well-known addresses as
One Commerce Square,
Clark Tower, Nonconnah
Corporate Center and
One Memphis Place.
“Last year was pretty
good, we’ve had a couple
of good years, actually,”
he says, while adding,
“We’re very bullish
on 2014.”
Commercial Real Estate
april 2014
Pinnacle Awards
17
Lamberson Capitalizes on Improving Market
Richard J. Alley |
Special to The Daily News
J
ohnny Lamberson Jr., executive
vice president of the CB Richard
Ellis Memphis capital markets
group, has lived in Memphis
29 years, having moved here
from Greenville, Miss., for his wifeto-be, Amy.
Lamberson first became interested
in commercial real estate while attending Delta State University in Cleveland, Miss. From that point forward,
he geared his education toward that
pursuit, interning with a real estate appraiser in undergraduate school before
heading off to New York University for
a master’s in the area. Upon graduation,
he migrated back South.
“My intentions were always to do
that,” he said. “But I did enjoy my time
up there, met a lot of great people, got a
good education and it was a really good
life experience going up there as a boy
from the Delta.”
He has worked with CBRE since
1995 and has completed nearly $2.5
billion in transactions, which include
dispositions and acquisitions, salelease backs, tenant representation and
land sales.
Last year’s commercial real estate
accomplishments helped Lamberson
garner Investment Sales Industrial
Broker of the Year honors.
He has seen many changes in the
industry during his time with the company, mainly in the way business is done
and with the facts and figures available
at one’s fingertips these days.
“It continues to become more and
more specialized, and it continues to
become more and more competitive,
and also the processes continue to
be better,” he said.
“You know, the world’s getting
smaller on us by the day, information is
easier to come by and I think it enables
us to be better service providers for
our clients.”
Striving to be better and to better
serve those clients is a constant goal
for any professional, and it’s one that
is seen daily at CBRE and with Lamberson himself. It’s how the firm has
proven itself over time and what has
made the most recent year so successful
for both the company and the broker.
“It was a good year: capital markets
were definitely loosening up, the CMBS
(commercial mortgage-backed securities) and insurance companies were
getting back into the market from a
lending standpoint,” Lamberson said.
“It certainly made financing deals
easier and it made the market more
competitive as buyers were able to
get financing more readily. It put
more buyers in the market, therefore
we were starting to see a bump up in
pricing. … It really made a more active
market than we had seen in the few
prior markets.”
One such client was Southland Primacy LLC, and the team of Terry Lynch
and Karl Schledwitz, which purchased
the Primacy II office building in East
Memphis for $4.6 million.
“We closed it in January and that
was one of the last deals that we had
put together last year,” Lamberson said.
“We’ve sold buildings to them in the
past and we consider them really great
guys to work with, and enjoyable to
work with and glad they’re here where
we get to learn from them and spend
time with them other than just the
transactions we get to work on.”
Investment
Sales Industrial
Broker
of the Year
Johnny
Lamberson Jr.
Position:
Executive Vice President
Company:
CB Richard Ellis Memphis
Johnny Lamberson Jr.
CB Richard Ellis Memphis LLC
Other clients include Sedgwick
CMS, Loeb Properties, Harrah’s, Promus Hotel Corp., New York Life and
West Clinic.
It’s been a tough climb for everyone
out of the mire of 2008, but the outlook is positive and last year’s successes
should speak toward this year’s mindset.
“I wouldn’t say that last year we
reached those levels (pre-2008), but I
would say that this year there’s certainly
more of a sense that we’re tying to get
to those levels,” he said.
“I would say that from the industrial
side of the business, we’re probably
at or very near where we were in the
height of the market in the mid-2000s.
I would not say that from an office or
retail perspective yet, however I would
say that those things are picking up at a
rapid pace.
“(2014) could be a very good year.
Things are indicating as such.”
Lamberson and his wife, Amy,
are the parents of 10-year-old Hardy,
and Lamberson is involved with the
Memphis Academy of Health and Science charter school. He has been a past
winner of Pinnacle Awards for Industrial Sales Broker, Retail Sales Broker,
Office Broker and Investment Sales
Broker of the Year.
13th Annual Pinnacle Awards Honor CRE’s Best
Amos Maki |
T
[email protected]
he Memphis Area Association of Realtors Commercial Council’s 13th
annual Pinnacle Awards
ceremony is an evening
dedicated to bringing commercial real estate industry professionals together and honoring
them for their accomplishments in the previous year.
Started in 2002, the Pinnacle Awards honor the highestproducing commercial real
estate brokers in Memphis for
the previous year in a number
of divisions, including Brokers
of the Year in 13 categories, as
well as the Commercial Broker
of the Year and the Commercial Hall of Fame inductee.
A supplement announcing the winners will be given
out after the ceremony and be
featured in the April 4 issues of
The Daily News and The Memphis News. The Daily News
Publishing Co. Inc., parent
company of The Daily News
and The Memphis News, is a
Pinnacle Awards sponsor.
“It’s a great opportunity
to shine a spotlight on members of the commercial real
estate community who had an
exceptional year in 2013,” said
Tony Argiro, leasing representative at Highwoods Properties Inc. and co-chairman of
the Pinnacle Awards. “It also
gives everyone an opportunity,
whether you’re a broker or involved in finance, architecture
and design, general contracting, a lot of the industries we
touch on, to network.”
The program includes a
brief, 20-minute presentation ceremony and has been
streamlined to give guests
more time to mingle.
“People should see a
marked difference in the
overall environment and feel
of the night,” Argiro said. “It’s
less Oscars this year and more
Golden Globes.”
The MAAR Commercial
Council will again be celebrating the Pinnacle Producers
Club, as well as the Pinnacle
Producers Club Life Members
– those who have been elected
to the Top 25 Pinnacle Awards
List for any five years.
The top producers will be
recognized as Brokers of the
Year for their area of production (retail, office, industrial,
land and investment).
Five new categories have
been added, including “The
Grit-n-Grind Broker of the
Year” award, which recognizes the brokers with the most
sales and leasing transactions,
regardless of size or category
type. This year’s event also
marks the return of the Top 25
honors, which recognizes the
overall top 25 producers.
Applicants must have produced new real estate brokerage business of $2 million or
more during 2013. It’s based off
of the actual lease value created per broker or the cumulative total of larger sales. For
instance, a five-year lease for
10,000 square feet and $20 per
foot would yield a lease value
of $200,000.
Argiro said applicants
stayed busy getting organized
and reviewing all of their 2013
transactions, which can number in the dozens.
“It is a lot of work, going
back to every single deal and
looking at the value of that deal
and submitting the information,” he said.
Argiro said the anonymity involved in the process is
a major reason participants
feel comfortable submitting detailed production information.
“It’s not information that
gets passed around,” said
Argiro. “It’s all handled confidentially.”
18
Pinnacle Awards
Commercial Real Estate
april 2014
Life
Members
Wohrman Revels In
Uniqueness of CRE Deals
Richard J. Alley |
Wyatt Aiken
John Mercer
Cushman & Wakefield / Commercial Advisors
Highwoods Properties, Inc.
Tony Argiro*
Michael Morgan*
Highwoods Properties, Inc.
Tommy Bronson, III
CB Richard Ellis Memphis, LLC
Brad Murchison
CB Richard Ellis Memphis, LLC
CB Richard Ellis Memphis, LLC
Patrick Burke
Bentley Pembroke*
CB Richard Ellis Memphis, LLC
Andy Cates
Commercial Advisor Asset Services, LLC
Blake Pera
Colliers International
CB Richard Ellis Memphis, LLC
Kemp Conrad
Andrew Phillips*
Commercial Advisor Asset Services, LLC
Michael Donahoe
Sperry Van Ness / Investec Realty Services
Frank Dyer, III
Loeb Realty Group
Pat Gamble
CB Richard Ellis Memphis, LLC
Steve Guinn*
Jason Polley
Patrick Reilly, Jr.
CB Richard Ellis Memphis, LLC
Ron Riley
Colliers International
John Snyder
Larry Jensen
Kelly Truitt
Cushman & Wakefield / Commercial Advisors
CB Richard Ellis Memphis, LLC
Ron Kastner
Russ Westlake
Brad Kornegay
Cary Whitehead
Johnny Lamberson, Jr.
Dan Wilkinson
Hank Martin*
Steve Woodyard
CB Richard Ellis Memphis, LLC
NAI Saig Company
ing the industry over the last few years,
Wohrman said such consistent growth
can be attributed to the company’s
diverse array of services.
“Personally, my transaction volume and revenue was evenly distributed among leasing, corporate surplus
dispositions and investment sales,” he
said. “I would like to keep this healthy
mix of different types of transactions
StoneCrest Investments
Sperry Van Ness / Investec Realty Services
Colliers International / Asset Services
M
emphis native Jack Wohrman
III of Jones Lang LaSalle
attended Presbyterian Day
School, Briarcrest Christian
School and the University of
Mississippi, where he found his way
to real estate through the school of
business.
“I initially selected accounting as my
major in college but quickly realized it
Colliers International
Highwoods Properties, Inc.
CB Richard Ellis Memphis, LLC
Special to The Daily News
Jones Lang LaSalle
Boyle Investment Company
Colliers International
Woodyard Realty Corp.
Investment
Sales Office
Broker
of the Year
Jack Wohrman III
Position:
Vice President
Company:
Jones Lang LaSalle
Jim Mercer
CB Richard Ellis Memphis, LLC
* New Life members for 2013
Jack Wohrman III
2013
Pinnacle Producers
Club MEMBERS
Wyatt Aiken
Jon Albright
Cathy Anderson
Tony Argiro
Jeff Barry
Jacob Biddle
Joey Bland
Todd Blanton
Tommy Bronson, III
Patrick Burke
Brian Califf
Bill Caller, Jr.
Andy Cates
Kemp Conrad
Dave Curran, Jr.
Phil Dagastino
Bobby Daush
Bryce Daves
Michael Donahoe
Don Drinkard, Jr.
Frank Dyer, III
Rosemarie Fair
Jeb Fields
Pat Gamble
Jimbo Rainer, V
Steve Guinn
Patrick Reilly, Jr.
Tanis Hackmeyer
Ron Riley
J. Hickman
John Snyder
Mark Jenkins
Tracy Speake
Larry Jensen
Alex Stringfellow
Ron Kastner
Laura Taylor
Brad Kornegay
Ed Thomas, III
Johnny Lamberson, Jr.
Preston Thomas, Jr.
Hank Martin
Anna Tranum
Tim Mashburn
Shawn Massey
Kelly Truitt
Roger McLemore
Alex Turley
Jim Mercer
Bob Turner
John Mercer
Conner Walker
Michael Morgan
Patrick Walton
Brad Murchison
Matt Weathersby
Bentley Pembroke
Russ Westlake
Blake Pera
Brian Whaley
Andrew Phillips
Allen Wilkinson
Jason Polley
Jack Wohrman, III
Terry Radford
Jim Rainer, IV
Steve Woodyard
Jones Lang LaSalle
wasn’t for me,” he said. “I moved to the
business school towards a finance major
with an emphasis in real estate. That
ended up being what I majored in along
with general business.”
But the switch might not have been
completely random. His maternal
grandfather, Den Ward, was a mortgage banker and a strong influence
on Wohrman’s decision to pursue the
chosen field.
There were other inspirations along
the way as well.
“I had the benefit of having two
business-minded real estate professors at Ole Miss, Dr. Dennis Tosh and
Dr. William Rayburn, who both made
classes enjoyable.”
He went into the industry after
college more than 12 years ago and has
been with Jones Lang LaSalle for a little
more than four years, handling tenant
representation and agency and investment sales transactions of industrial and
office assets. He has successfully negotiated more than 7 million square feet of
industrial, office and retail transactions,
totaling in excess of $365 million.
And his achievements in 2013
earned him the Investment Sales Office
Broker of the Year award.
Jones Lang LaSalle’s revenues have
increased approximately 13 percent
year over year and are up to nearly $4.5
billion now. With myriad challenges fac-
each year. I attribute a great deal of my
success in 2013 to the JLL platform,
my local colleagues’ support and good
fortune.”
While it was the consistency he
counted on for success throughout the
year, it always helps to build a lead by
hitting a homerun in the first inning.
Wohrman’s first transaction of the year
was a 90,000-square-foot, single-tenant
office transaction.
Wohrman enjoys the uniqueness
in every deal and the seemingly endless opportunities that the challenges
of the industry and his clients bring
to the table.
“New construction of speculative
development is challenging in today’s
environment,” he said. “Memphis is a
spec market so I hope that spec activity
picks up going forward.”
Wohrman said he hopes to see the
speculative activity pick up in the near
future and says that, “Overall, activity is up significantly over this time
last year. Assuming this trend continues, 2014 will be an improvement
over 2013.”
Wohrman is engaged to marry Liza
Creech this summer and says he is
lucky to have all of his immediate family in Memphis.
“I try to take full advantage
of spending quality time with
them,” he said.
Commercial Real Estate
Pinnacle Awards
april 2014
19
Professional, Personal Growth Fuel Truitt
Richard J. Alley |
K
Special to The Daily News
elly Truitt, executive
vice president with CB
Richard Ellis, has had
a long and prosperous
career in the commercial real estate
industry.
First becoming enamored
with the field
while a student
at the University
of Arkansas, he
makes light of
himself remembering a presentation on real
estate early on in
which he was told
“one did not have
to be especially
intelligent to
make it.”
“I saw a potential fit,” Truitt
said.
Yet real estate
was one of the
few classes he
connected with,
and excelled in,
and he would
later work for
Henry Turley
Co., where he was
responsible for
all commercial
property activities
including acquisition, leasing and
management.
There was a
potential fit, indeed, as he went to
work for CBRE in
1990, and has risen
in the field ever since. With
more than a quarter century
in the industry, the key, Truitt
said, is to continue to grow as
a persona and broker.
“The more I learn, the
more I realize there is so
much more to know and it’s a
work with and develop real
relationships of appreciation
and trust.”
It is that trust and those
relationships that led to the
Land Broker
of the Year
Kelly Truitt
Position:
Executive Vice President
Company:
CB Richard Ellis Memphis
Kelly Truitt
CB Richard Ellis Memphis LLC
“I am with a great team, our Tenant Advisory Group, with
wonderful clients so I feel very fortunate. Our 2013 was fantastic.” – Kelly Truitt
CB Richard Ellis Memphis LLC
great journey of change and
growth. The greatest reward
by far is the people you meet,
successes in 2013 and the
recognition of Land Broker
of the Year.
“Last year was a good
year for the CRE industry
nationally and our region with
improving market conditions,” he said. “My business line focus is
on the office market, specifically tenant representation,
so some softness can prove
effective for our clients. “We have seen more balancing with increased demand
and minimal new supply,
especially in major business
centers across the country. “I am with a great
team, our Tenant Advisory Group, with wonderful
clients so I feel very fortunate.
Our 2013 was fantastic.” Some of those clients
include Baptist Memorial
Health Care, MATA, Thompson Dunavant CPA, Verso
Paper and the DuPont Corp.
With a trend toward the
more efficient utilization of
office space with less square
footage per person, Truitt
is interested to see if such a
trend will mean increased
business productivity and a
subsequent demand for more
office space, or if the efficient
use keeps actual demand as
measured by square feet for
space flat.
Regardless, he said, “I
anticipate continued improvement in most all markets. In Memphis we are seeing
more activity beyond the typical organic growth, which is
encouraging.”
In all industries there are
challenges, and in Memphis,
there is one being played
out in the gateway to the
city that affects a wide range
of markets.
“A significant challenge
is the loss of flights at Memphis International (Airport),”
Truitt said.
“Our clients are feeling
the effects of fewer flights and
this impacts office location
decisions and staff levels.”
Despite this obstacle, his
confidence and optimism
don’t wane, and he continues
to call upon the resources
available and to look forward.
“We are very appreciative
of efforts and new initiatives
our city and county leadership, as well as our chamber
of commerce, is undertaking
regarding economic development,” he said. “We are bullish
on Memphis.”
He is also protective of
his city and works closely
with nonprofit and civic
organizations to make it a
better place for the community and his family, his wife,
Sharon, and children Connor
and Callan.
“One of the great things
about Memphis is the openness and opportunity to get
involved,” he said. “I have
worked with very talented
professionals at various
service agencies including
the Memphis Child Advocacy Center, The Food Bank,
New Memphis Institute and
River City Capital Development.”
Truitt in 2003 was inducted into the CB Richard
Ellis Colbert Coldwell Circle,
which honors the company’s
top 3 percent, and he is a
multi-year Pinnacle Awards
winner.
Top 25
that the good run they’d
had up until that point was
atrick Reilly, vice
nearly over. He, in effect,
president with CB
dashed Reilly’s dreams just
Richard Ellis Memas he was donning a cap
phis, started with
and gown.
the firm in 1999,
“I decided that I would
his first job in commercial
get into commercial real
real estate after graduatestate,” he said.
ing from the University of
He’s happy with that
Tennessee-Knoxville, with
decision and has made a
Reilly
a Bachelor of Science in
success of his career repreCB Richard Ellis Memphis LLC
Business Administration
senting landlords of office
and Finance.
buildings.
For more than three years while at
“Last year was certainly an imUT, Reilly had interned with Morgan
provement over the previous couple of
Keegan. Just before graduation in 1998,
years,” he said.
during his exit interview, the interview“We started to see companies getee suggested to him that the bottom
ting some confidence back and willing
was about to drop out of the market,
to make some longer-term commitRichard J. Alley
Special to The Daily News
P
working with each day,
ments and decisions, so it
we’re working on more
was a better year certainly
expansions today than
financially for our clients
we have been in the past
and the companies we
two or three years, and
work with on a day-to-day
people are willing to look
basis.”
at new space, hire more
Reilly works closely
people and make those
with colleagues Ron KastTop 25
longer-term decisions that
ner, Don Drinkard Jr. and
they just weren’t making
Austin Ehrat to handle
Patrick Reilly
necessarily the previous
the East Memphis portPosition:
years.”
folio and clients, which
Vice President
Reilly received the
include Belz Enterprises,
Company:
Ernst & Young, SunTrust
2004
CBRE Memphis
CB Richard Ellis Memphis
Banks, Koger Equity and
Vision Award and 2005
Parkway Properties.
Chairmen’s Award. He
“There’s still convolunteers with Metropolfidence out there and the market is
itan Inter-Faith Association (MIFA), St.
improving,” he said in looking to the
Jude Children’s Research Hospital and
coming year. “The tenants that we’re
Boys and Girls Clubs of Memphis.
Pinnacle Awards
20
Commercial Real Estate
april 2014
2013 Busy Year for Guinn, Highwoods
Michael Waddell |
Special to The Daily News
Office Landlord
Representative
Broker
of the Year
Steve Guinn
Position:
Vice President & Division
Manager
Company:
Highwoods Properties Inc.
Steve Guinn
Highwoods Properties Inc.
S
teve Guinn, vice president and
division manager of Highwoods
Properties Inc., likes the diversity
of the commercial real estate
industry.
“It’s an intriguing business, from
construction to basic dealmaking to the
legal aspects,”
said Guinn, who has now worked for
more than 30 years in commercial real
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estate, development, leasing, marketing
and finance. “Over the years I’ve most
enjoyed working with the variety of
people I’ve met.”
Guinn oversees the Memphis
operations for Raleigh, N.C.-based
Highwoods, which owns, leases and
manages a portfolio of 19 office buildings encompassing roughly 2 million
square feet.
During 2013 Guinn was most active
in the East Memphis submarket and
the Tenn. 385 corridor, which he cites
as the strongest submarkets for the city
and for Highwoods.
“Both markets saw slight upticks in
rent,” Guinn said. “The East submarket
is tightening up, and there is not much
Class A space available of more than
10,000 square feet. I think 2014 will
continue to be a grind-it-out situation, with the filling in of some smaller
spaces, and I believe it is up in the air
as to what is going to happen with the
Class B market.”
Big developments for Guinn’s team
last year included closing the deal on
the new International Paper building in
East Memphis.
“Highlights for the year definitely
included signing the lease with International Paper to construct the new IP
tower on Poplar Avenue,” said Guinn,
whose deals earned him Office Landlord Representative Broker of the Year.
“The steel is up to the ninth floor, and
the building will be topped out in a
few weeks. We are scheduled to open it
around April 1 of 2015.”
Highwoods has grown in Memphis
over the past few years through locating strategic assets within the market
for acquisition as well as by completing
new construction.
“Last year we also completed the
construction of the two new restaurants
(Seasons 52 and The Capital Grille) at
the Crescent Center,” Guinn said. “It
was a pretty involved situation to create
two outparcels at that site, and I think
it has turned out well.
“Both restaurants are doing great
from a sales perspective, and they have
been received very positively in the
community.”
Guinn earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Baylor
University before joining the Trammell
Crow Co. in 1978. He moved to Memphis in 1987 with Trammell Crow and
joined Highwoods in 2004.
He is a certified public accountant and a member of the Society of
Industrial and Office Realtors, CCIM,
Lambda Alpha International and the
Urban Land Institute.
He is also a LEED accredited
professional as designated by the U.S.
Green Building Council, and he is a former member of the Memphis Area Association of Realtors board of directors.
Guinn helped deliver Triad Centre III,
the first USGBC LEED Gold-certified
office building in Memphis.
He received the Pinnacle Award
as Memphis’ top office sales broker in
2002 and 2004 and was named Broker
of the Year for 2009.
Away from work, Guinn serves on
the board of directors of the Soulsville
Foundation, is a member of the Downtown Kiwanis Club and is a project
board member of Shelby Farms Park
Conservancy. He is also a former board
member for the Memphis Symphony
Orchestra.
Guinn and his wife, Pam, are empty
nesters with three children and three
grandchildren, and they love to travel.
“I have a goal to visit 100 countries
before I am 80. I’ve visited 42 so far,”
said Guinn, who also plays trumpet in
his spare time. He played during high
school and college before taking a 30year break from the instrument.
He picked it back up more than
a decade ago, and now he plays in a
couple of bands that perform regularly
around town, including a 17-piece big
band called Swing Time Explosion and
the Bartlett Community Band.
“It takes up a couple of nights a
week for rehearsals, and I really have a
lot of fun with it,” Guinn said. “It keeps
your mind active for sure, and it is
something you can do as you get older
without having to worry about blowing
out your knee.”
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Commercial Real Estate
april 2014
Pinnacle Awards
21
Gamble Finds Natural Fit With Real Estate
Michael Waddell |
P
Special to The Daily News
at Gamble, senior vice
president specializing
in office corporate and
brokerage services with
CB Richard Ellis Memphis, has selling real estate in
his blood.
Gamble grew up in Charlotte, N.C., and his mother sold
residential real estate in the
early 1970s.
“My mother remarried in
the early 1980s and my stepfather owned some commercial
real estate, so I’ve been around
the industry for a long time,”
said Gamble, who moved to
Memphis from Charlotte in
1988 to attend Rhodes College,
where he majored in political
science and graduated in 1992.
Gamble began his real
estate career with CB Richard
Ellis Memphis in 1997 after
initially working in outside
sales in the food industry after
completing college. “I’ve always been a salesperson. By the mid- to late1990s, I knew I wanted to get
out of the food business but
I wanted to stay in sales,” he
said. “I had a history with real
estate, and it was really a natural progression for me to make
the career switch.”
Since joining CBRE
Gamble has strictly represented tenants of office space and
today he handles several large
multi-market accounts. “I began working here
alongside someone who
specialized in office properties, and I’ve never strayed,”
he said.
Gamble, the 2013 Office
Tenant Representative Broker
of the Year, also is involved in
the management of the CBRE
Memphis’ office through work
on several management committees.
He describes 2013
as stable with some
organic growth from
existing companies in
the market.
“We saw, or are continuing to see, many
more inquiries from
out-of-town companies,
and while there were
not a lot, there were
some new operations
opening up in Memphis,” he said. “We are
definitely seeing an
upward trend in the
market.”
Gamble works
closely with a client
services specialist and
two other brokers, former Pinnacle Award
winners Kelly Truitt
and Michael Morgan.
“Last year was one
of the busiest years
that we’ve ever had,”
Gamble said.
“We were very
active both in the
Memphis area and out
of town.”
Gamble stays concentrated on companies and their needs,
and his work in 2013
covered many different parts of the city.
What he likes
most about working in the
CRE industry is the sense of
fulfillment that comes from
helping other people.
“That’s really the crux of
what we do as office occupier
advisers. We negotiate and
advise people about office
in 2005, 2011, 2012 and 2013. “I
enjoy working with enthusiastic, creative and driven people,
and the people who handle
“I had a history with real estate, and it was really a natural
progression for me to make the career switch.”
– Pat Gamble
CB Richard Ellis Memphis LLC
Office Tenant
Representative
Broker
of the Year
Pat Gamble
Position:
Senior Vice President
Company:
CB Richard Ellis Memphis
Pat Gamble
CB Richard Ellis Memphis LLC
space,” said Gamble, who was
also honored with the Pinnacle
Award for Office Tenant Representative Broker of the Year
commercial real estate for
most companies are generally
that way.”
Gamble is a member of the
Memphis Area Association of
Realtors and the National Association of Realtors. He lists
significant accomplishments
like handling multi-market
accounts for Sedgwick CMS
and Wunderlich Securities,
and his growing client list
includes Davidson Hotel
Co., Ernst & Young, First
Data Corp., Harris Shelton
Hanover Walsh and Mercer
Capital.
Gamble likes to give
back to the local community by working for a
large variety of nonprofit
organizations, sometimes
on an ad hoc or one-time
basis.
He is a former Boy
Scout and currently serves
as a board member of
Chickasaw Council Boy
Scouts of America. He is
also a past board member
of the American Red Cross
and Memphis Interfaith
Association (MIFA), and
he is actively involved
with the Rhodes College
career services department.
He and his wife of the
past 15 years, Anne, have
two children under age 10.
“The kids keep us happily very busy,” Gamble
said. “We stay very active
with sports and school
activities.”
In his spare time,
Gamble likes to get away
to Arkansas to do some fly
fishing, an activity he enjoyed
while growing up in North
Carolina, whenever he gets the
opportunity.
Top 25
“With a lack of large
blocks of inventory, we fiohn Mercer, director
nally saw some movement
of office leasing for
in smaller suite activity,”
Raleigh, N.C.-based
he said. “With no new
Highwoods Properspeculative construction
ties Inc., enjoyed a
and continued demand, I
surge in activity during the
expect vacancy rates will
second half of 2013.
continue to decrease and
“Our occupancy rates
rents should continue to
took a dip during the spring
rise.” Mercer
last year, but by year-end
Mercer, a native MemHighwoods Properties Inc.
we were able to increase
phian, has focused on the
our occupancy by more
sale and leasing of office
than 4 percent to close at 87.8 percent,”
and commercial properties in Nashville
said Mercer, whose concentration is in
and Memphis during his 22-year career.
the hot East Memphis Poplar Avenue
He joined Highwoods in March of 2001
corridor.
and previously worked for Coldwell
The positive absorption led to deBanker, Wilkinson & Snowden, Tramclining vacancy rates and upward presmell Crow Co., and CB Richard Ellis.
sure on rents due to dwindling supply of
He hopes to see more interest
large blocks of space.
from companies looking to move to
Michael Waddell
Special to The Daily News
J
Mercer is a former
Memphis.
president of the MAAR
“Like our industrial
Commercial Council and
counterparts, the office
remains active with the
market would benefit
group.
greatly with an influx of
“The past few years
new companies comhave been rewarding
ing to town; other than
because of our support of
the recently announced
Top 25
the Make-a-Wish FoundaConduit Global move,
tion through our annual
outside growth is virtually
John Mercer
golf tournament,” he said.
nonexistent,” Mercer said.
Position:
“With our inordinately
“Granting a wish at the
Director of Leasing
dinner at the end of the
high property taxes, any
tournament gives you a
increase in tax rates will
Company:
Highwoods Properties Inc.
warm feeling that in a
certainly put a damper
on the progress the office
small way we are makmarket achieved in 2013.”
ing a difference in our
He believes that for
community.” continued job growth and demand for
Away from work, he is also currently
office space, the city needs continued
a trustee for Visible Music College. Mergrowth in air service options at Memcer and his wife of 30-plus years, Sally,
phis International Airport.
have two grown sons.
22
Pinnacle Awards
Commercial Real Estate
april 2014
The World’s Leading
Commercial Real Estate
Professionals
The Society of Industrial
and Office REALTORS®
is the leading professional
commercial and industrial
real estate association Locate
other SIOR professionals at
www.sior.com
Stellar Year Earns
Phillips Two Awards
Richard J. Alley |
Special to The Daily News
2014
Pinnacle Awards
The Memphis Chapter of SIOR would like to congratulate the
following members recognized by the Memphis Area Association
of Realtors Commercial Council as top producers for 2013.
Top 25 Producers
Retail Tenant
Representative
Broker
of the Year &
Investment
Sales Retail
Broker
of the Year
Andrew Phillips
Wyatt Aiken
Andrew Phillips
Andy Cates
Scott Pahlow
Steve Guinn
Preston Thomas
Hank Martin
Jack Wohrman
2014
Pinnacle Producers Club
Jon Albright
Patrick Burke
Kemp Conrad
Jeb Fields
Mark Jenkins
Larry Jensen
Jim Mercer
Jim Rainer
John Snyder
Position:
Vice President
Matt Weathersby Allen Wilkinson
WWW.SIOR.COM
Company:
Colliers International
A
ndrew Phillips began working
with Colliers International on
March 4, 2008. He remembers
that date exactly because it was
also the very day his daughter,
Virginia, was born.
“I said, ‘Guys, I’m not going to make
it, the baby’s coming today,’” he said.
“So I took an immediate paternity leave
as soon as I started.”
The birth of a child is a good omen
and things have certainly gone well for
that new father, now a vice president
in Investment and Retail Services, and
winner of the Retail Tenant Representative Broker of the Year, as well
as Investment Sales Retail Broker
of the Year.
Phillips is a fifth-generation
Memphian who attended Briarcrest
Christian School and the University
of Tennessee-Knoxville. He began his
career in commercial real estate with
NAI Saig Co. in 2002 where he was
able to dabble in a bit of everything
– retail, office and industrial properties. “I touched on a lot of food groups,
if you will.”
In 2006, he left to open the Memphis office of Lehman Brothers, Small
Business Finance Division, focusing on
commercial real estate lending of owner occupied and investment properties
throughout the southeast. Though
Lehman Brothers would eventually
collapse, he said, “it was intriguing, and
I thought that would be a good learning
experience, which it was.”
When he joined Colliers on that
auspicious day, it was at the beginning of one of the worst recessions in
recent history.
“It was a pretty rough time for
traditional property owners,” he said.
“I tried to focus on working with banks
Andrew Phillips
Colliers International
and CMBS (commercial mortgagebacked securities) lenders that were
being flooded with REO inventory that
needed third-party companies to lease,
manage and eventually sell these buildings. Combining forces with our Asset
Services division, we were successful in
capturing some of this business and we
have been able to grow our retail and
investment platform as a result.”
He partners now with Ed Thomas
on all retail products and with Andy
Cates and Preston Thomas on much of
the industrial investment product.
He said 2013 was a good year in
both categories.
“We had a handful of transactions
and I think that Ed Thomas and I, on
the retail front, from the leasing side,
completed over 40 transactions,” he
said. “We just stayed the course and
stayed busy throughout the year.”
It was that steadiness, that consistency of transactions, that helped make
the year so successful, along with the
major bump of a transaction involving
a three-building portfolio for Ashley
Home Furniture Stores in November.
It’s the momentum of last year and
its absence of lulls that Phillips and the
team intend to build on for 2014. So far,
it’s full steam ahead.
“The first quarter has been very
good and we kind of see our pipeline
for the next year or two to remain that
way, so our outlook is very positive and
will hopefully continue to be that way,”
he said.
In addition to Virginia, who is now
6 years old, Phillips and his wife, Maggie, also have Andrew, 4, and Louise,
19 months. Raising a family is a team
endeavor and Phillips is a team player
both at home and within the commercial real estate family.
Commercial Real Estate
april 2014
Pinnacle Awards
23
Love of CRE Dynamism Keeps Turley Thriving
Michael Waddell |
Special to The Daily News
Retail Landlord
Representative
Broker
of the Year
est year-end total since 2010,” Turley
said. “We are seeing a lot more largebox, single-tenant new construction
activity coupled with infill redevelopment, with the most shining example
being Overton Square and ancillary
properties.”
Turley cites the Square redevelopment project as one of the most significant areas for retail in the city during
2013, thanks to the area’s 125,000 square
feet of retail transactions. The bulk of
Turley’s workload during 2013 concentrated around fitness, medical, grocery,
larger-box retail and restaurants.
“The deal that sticks out in my mind
is the sale of the Union Avenue Post Office to Baptist Medical Group,” he said.
“This significant investment in such a
prime property on Union Avenue underlines that medical users have essentially become another category of retail,
and I like what medical investment in
our core means for our city.”
Alex Turley
Position:
Vice President
Company:
CB Richard Ellis Memphis
Alex Turley
CB Richard Ellis Memphis LLC
B
ecause Alex Turley, vice president
of retail brokerage services at
CB Richard Ellis Memphis LLC,
enjoys how retail intertwines with
the community, he is very much
focused on people’s desires and needs.
“I’ve always been interested in the
mechanics of cities and neighborhoods
from a development standpoint,” he
said. “It’s as basic as looking at a piece
of property and figuring out the best
use, and then taking steps to achieve
that use.”
Now in his 10th year with CBRE,
Turley started as an associate in the East
Memphis office and was promoted to
vice president of retail services in January 2012. He manages both the brokerage and asset services sides of the retail
division of CB Richard Ellis Memphis
and is most active in Memphis; Jackson,
Tenn.; and Tupelo, Miss. He holds licenses to practice real estate in Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas and Alabama.
“I enjoy the dynamism of the discipline because every day I find myself
working on various types of transactions, whether that means representing
tenants and buyers, assembling property
for a developer, or selling a building,
land or leasing space,” he said.
His primary responsibilities on the
brokerage side include building and land
acquisition, lease and contract negotiations, financial analysis, market surveys,
site searches and single-tenant triple net
property sales on behalf of end users,
developers and investors. Top clients
include Dollar General, AFC Enterprises
Inc., Chrysler, First Tennessee Bank,
ALSAC/St. Jude, The Kroger Co., Five
Guys Burgers and Fries, Regions Bank
and Jimmy Johns Gourmet Sandwiches.
On the asset services side, Turley’s
main responsibilities consist of building, land and outparcel sales, lease
and contract negotiations, financial
analysis, shopping center leasing, multimarket dispositions and infill redevelopment work. His asset list consists
of properties like West Towne Commons in Jackson, Tenn.; Barnes Crossing Shopping Center in Tupelo; and
Eastgate Shopping Center and Legends
Parks in Memphis.
“The Memphis MSA retail market
saw nearly 350,000 square feet of net
absorption in 2013, which was the high-
all brokers are not
CREated equal
Financial Federal is proud to sponsor 2014’s Pinnacle Awards and congratulates the honorees.
As locally based specialists in commercial real estate lending, we appreciate your role in the growth of Memphis’ business community.
We look forward to talking with you about your clients’ needs and invite you to visit us at FinFedMem.com.
FinFedMem.com | 6305 Humphreys Blvd., Suite 100, Memphis, TN 38120 | 901.756.2848 |
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